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Meet Project Cosmos: 1,000 mile range, emissions-free megayacht from Apple Watch designer

German luxury boatbuilder Lürssen Yachts has shared video footage of it successfully launching a zero-emissions megayacht longer than two olympic swimming pools, suspected to be commissioned by a Japanese billionaire. The exterior of hydrogen powered megayacht, codenamed Project Cosmos, is being designed by Apple designer Marc Newson.

Lürssen Yachts is a legacy boatbuilder with German roots dating as far back at 1860. After initially starting out building racing rowboats, Lürssen constructed the world’s first motorboat in 1886. It has gone bigger and better in the century and a half since that milestone, gaining a reputation in the maritime industry for consistently pushing the limits of engineering and innovation within its unique vessels.

Lürssen first committed to using fuel cells way back in 2009 and has been operating a methanol-hydrogen fuel cell power plant since 2012. That technology is present in its current megayacht build, Project Cosmos – which just made its technical launch onto the waters of Germany.

It’s a work in progress that still has a couple years to go, but you can already get a scope of its size and unique design from the images below.

This megayacht can operate for 15 days without emissions

Lürssen Yachts uploaded a new video to YouTube today sharing the successful technical launch of the Project Cosmos from its facility in Germany, just five days after officially unveiling the megyacht in a separate video.

This is the public’s first genuine glimpse of the vessel despite it entering year three of construction. As you can see from the images above, Project Cosmos is a massive 114.2. meter (~375 ft) megayacht featuring an explorer-style profile, meaning the vessel’s the superstructure has been positioned more forward to allow for a larger aft deck.

Other features spotted from the YouTube footage include a swimming pool and some sort of large cut-out, which could be used to stow a separate smaller (but still quite large) vessel (preferably electric, right?). Up top, you’ll notice what appears to be a 360-degree viewing area as well as a helipad on the bridge deck below.

According to  Boat International , the exterior of the megayacht is being designed by Australian designer Marc Newson, who helped form the look of the Apple Watch in 2015. On the maritime side, Newson also designed a 140-meter superyacht called Solaris for Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich.

The star of the show (at least to us), however, is the unique hydrogen powertrain Lürssen has implemented in the megayacht. Luxury Launches points out that rather than stow and tote massive liquid hydrogen tanks aboard, Project Cosmos will utilize readily available methanol which still carries plenty of hydrogen in its chemical makeup.

The waste result is still just water, offering a viable zero-emissions solution at sea that Lürssen hopes will influence future megayacht builds, especially since some of the traditional ultra-large vessels have larger carbon footprints that entire island nations.

Hydrogen power clearly offers a better solution, especially since Lürssen Yachts states the Project Cosmos’ green propulsion system enables its owner to anchor down for 15 nights without emissions. In terms of range at sea, the megayacht will be able to slow cruise for over 1,000 miles, again emissions-free.

The hydrogen powered megayacht is believed to be commissioned by Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa . Maezawa was seen onboard the vessel during the technical launch in the video below – the Japanese flag hung from the railing of the yacht is also a clear hint.

Lürssen Yachts is expected to complete delivery of the Project Cosmos megayacht in 2025. See more below:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Scooter Doll is a writer, designer and tech enthusiast born in Chicago and based on the West Coast. When he’s not offering the latest tech how tos or insights, he’s probably watching Chicago sports. Please send any tips or suggestions, or dog photos to him at [email protected]

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A Voyage Through Elon Musk's Futuristic Yacht

Elon Musk, the pioneer behind SpaceX and Tesla, is renowned for pushing the boundaries of technology. But his influence extends beyond space and electric cars—his yacht is a veritable sea-bound spaceship, a marvel that merges luxury, design, and technology.

A Fusion of Luxury and Tech

Elon Musk's yacht effortlessly blends opulence with cutting-edge technology. The interiors are awash with sleek, futuristic design elements that echo the aesthetics of Tesla's vehicles and SpaceX's spacecraft. From the smart lighting system that adjusts according to the time of day to the innovative climate control mechanism, the yacht exemplifies smart living.

Each stateroom is outfitted with a state-of-the-art entertainment system, which syncs with personal devices to offer a customized multimedia experience. Musk's love for minimalism is evident in the yacht's design—the furniture's clean lines and the muted color palette create a tranquil environment.

Navigating the Green Wave

Musk’s commitment to sustainability is well-documented, and his yacht is no exception. The yacht’s hull has been crafted from an eco-friendly composite material, and solar panels integrated into the design provide clean energy.

The onboard water purification system ensures that no waste water is discharged into the ocean, thus protecting marine life. Additionally, the yacht is powered by an electric motor, reflecting Musk's endeavor to promote zero-emission transportation.

Luxe Amenities on Board

The yacht houses a variety of upscale amenities. The onboard gym, equipped with cutting-edge fitness technology, allows guests to maintain their workout regimen while at sea. The yacht also features a modern spa with a sauna and massage room for the ultimate relaxation.

The highlight, however, is the panoramic observation deck. This magnificent space offers a 360-degree view of the surroundings and is the perfect spot for stargazing or watching the sunrise.

Gourmet Dining Experience

No yacht is complete without a sophisticated culinary setup, and Musk’s vessel is no different. The yacht houses a gourmet kitchen, featuring state-of-the-art appliances and a team of world-class chefs. Here, guests can indulge in a diverse menu of international cuisines, all prepared with locally-sourced and organic ingredients.

Adjacent to the kitchen, the elegant dining area can comfortably seat multiple guests, making it the perfect spot for intimate dinners or lavish parties.

Innovative Navigation and Safety Features

Consistent with Musk's reputation for technological innovation, the yacht’s navigation system employs advanced satellite technology and AI-assisted guidance. This not only ensures efficient travel but also significantly enhances safety at sea.

The yacht’s safety features are equally impressive, with comprehensive onboard surveillance, state-of-the-art fire suppression systems, and automated emergency protocols. These measures ensure that guests can enjoy their sea voyage with complete peace of mind.

Exploring the Underwater Realm

One of the most captivating features of Musk's yacht is the onboard mini-submarine. This underwater vehicle allows guests to explore the ocean depths in comfort and safety, offering a unique perspective of the marine world. The yacht also provides an array of diving and snorkeling equipment, inviting guests to take a closer look at the underwater life.

The Future of Yachting

Elon Musk’s yacht is not just a vessel; it’s a statement of the future. It stands as a testament to how technological innovations can revolutionize our lifestyle, even when we're out on the ocean. With its groundbreaking design and eco-conscious features, Musk's yacht sets a new standard for luxury sea travel, signaling the dawn of a new era in yachting.

In conclusion, Elon Musk's yacht is a testament to his vision for the future - a future that seamlessly blends luxury, technology, and sustainability. From the gourmet kitchen to the mini-submarine, every aspect of the yacht underscores Musk's commitment to redefining our experience of the world. And as we look ahead, one thing is certain: the future of yachting will indeed be exciting.

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Starlink: The lowdown on Elon Musk's satellite internet system

Starlink Maritime is rewriting the rulebook when it comes to connectivity at sea – but how does it compare?

It’s not just Tom Cruise who feels the need for speed. For guests and crew alike, fast, ubiquitous internet access at sea is now seen as a must-have provision. Everyone wants to surf on the surf.

“Connectivity is no longer regarded as a luxury,” says Nick Maynard, marketing director for communications company OneWeb. “It’s now right up there with reasons why a superyacht might not go to sea, such is the expectation from principals.”

This rise in demand goes way beyond Netflix and TikTok users on board. From audiovisual systems to artificial intelligence, fast, reliable data connections have become de rigueur and in demand – and there’s a revolution afoot.

The transformative technology everyone’s talking about is Elon Musk’s Starlink Maritime. A SpaceX offshoot, Starlink currently comprises a constellation of 3,300 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites circling the planet at an altitude of 550 kilometres, give or take. In time, this is expected to increase to 12,000 satellites. It’s a radically different approach to the traditional VSAT system yacht owners will be familiar with: geostationary (GEO) networks that rely on satellites parked at some 36,000 kilometres and MEO (medium-earth orbit) satellites hovering around 20,000 kilometres.

The system is exciting to those in the connectivity business because LEO satellites can outperform GEO and MEO satellites by offering faster internet speeds. They’re also far cheaper to make and deploy, mainly due to their size. GEO satellites are physically bigger (around the size of a large van) and can only be launched one at a time, whereas Starlink’s LEO satellites weigh just 260 kilograms and 64 can be launched at once.

Why the need for so many? Simply put, fewer GEO and MEO satellites are required for coverage as they see so much more of the planet, given their distance from earth, whereas LEO satellites only see a fraction of the planet at any one time. GEO satellite coverage is planetary (barring the poles) but latency – the delay in data transmission – is high; LEO satellites can deliver much quicker speeds, but lots of them are needed to guarantee coverage. Imagine a torch shining on a globe – move it in and the beam gets tighter and brighter; move it out and it gets broader and dimmer.

Currently providing internet service to around 40 countries, Starlink is proving to be quite the disruptor. Compared to more conventional satcom systems, it also promises lower running costs and simpler installation, as there’s no requirement for a satellite dome. Instead, a flat antenna can be unobtrusively accommodated on deck. The only requirement is a clear line of sight with the sky overhead.

Starlink’s antennas can be flat because LEO satellites fly so low; the “look angle” of the receiver, therefore, is always close to vertical, so it doesn’t need a wide range of movement. The panels can also be smaller, given the strength of the signal. At the time of writing, Starlink was not yet offering global coverage, with internet provision restricted to the Mediterranean and coastal areas of the US, Europe and parts of South America and Australia. The company is expecting to achieve global coverage by around March this year.

One of the first yachts to install Starlink Maritime was the 54.9-metre Loon . Captain Paul Clarke reports the installation was easier than previous VSAT systems. “Almost six months after installing Starlink, we’re still in love with it,” he tells us. “We were able to turn off our satellite TV dishes and we now stream everything on all the TVs throughout. There’s no need to be locked into expensive, high-maintenance sat TV provider contracts, so it saves us $20,000 (£16,200) a year.”

Starlink Maritime’s pricing is also appealingly straightforward: $10,000 for two flat-panel antennas (only one is needed to provide internet, but two are supplied for redundancy in case of an output failure), and a monthly charge of $5,000 for unlimited data. Resellers, meanwhile, have recently started making the pricing even more attractive; connectivity company Anuvu is now selling single a Starlink Maritime antenna for as little as $2,500.

The upfront cost of the equipment is well below the tens of thousands you’d expect to pay for a sat dome on a superyacht, but the monthly subscription cost is similar or higher – but then again, so are the speeds.

Under optimal conditions, Starlink can offer a maximum upload speed of 40Mbps, and 350Mbps download per installation, which is considerably faster than most home broadband users experience. Of course, it won’t deliver this level of performance consistently in real-world conditions, particularly when coverage is patchy, or when you’re in port, competing for bandwidth.

Clarke notes that the system’s growing popularity does appear to be slowing things down. “We are definitely noticing congestion as more and more people make the change to Starlink,” he says. “We’ve also noticed that when in the same ports as cruise ships, we have a massive reduction in bandwidth. There is nothing official from Starlink about this, but it seems that they get priority.”

Still, Clarke remains enthusiastic. “You’ve got to understand that Starlink is still in its infancy and will continue to grow and get better over time as it launches more satellites.” He’s also a fan of the design: “Starlink dishes are flat, so no more need for the big sat domes. I think we will see some more sleek yachts coming out of the yards in the near future as a result.”

What are the alternatives to Starlink?

Of course, Starlink isn’t the only LEO game in town. Its sole competition – for now – is OneWeb, which has been steadily building up its own network of LEO satellites since 2019, with the aim of offering global coverage during 2023. Amazon, meanwhile, is about to muscle in with Project Kuiper, its proposed constellation of 3,000 LEO satellites. The company’s first prototype satellites will be launched this year.

Further providers are coming, too. If all the proposed constellations make it into space, it would increase the current number of satellites orbiting the earth 40-fold to around 200,000.

OneWeb’s Maynard says that the creation of a global constellation has been “a monumental, even Herculean” challenge for the company. “Each day our team has grappled with some big questions and decisions, for example how to efficiently manage a fleet of spacecraft from down here on earth, devising space-based connectivity service propositions that are relevant and easy to use, preventing orbital debris and cleaning up what’s already up there.”

Each OneWeb satellite is about the size of a washing machine and orbits the earth at 26,000km/h, at an altitude of 1,200 kilometres, which is described by Maynard as the “sweet spot” for delivering high-speed, low-latency connectivity globally.

A key differentiator between OneWeb and Starlink is that OneWeb’s constellation operates further away from earth, with a smaller fleet of satellites that each have a wider beam width. “We’re delivering global coverage with an agile, efficient and responsible fleet of just 648 satellites, far fewer than some other planned constellations,” says Maynard.

While OneWeb won’t be drawn on pricing  (“We are an indirect business, we can’t really comment on pricing as this would be determined by our distribution partners,” says Maynard), the company says it’s more cost-effective than the traditional VSAT hardware.

Using a dual parabolic antenna (more like a traditional satellite dish), yacht owners can expect up to 125Mbps download and 25Mbps upload speeds. OneWeb’s antennas are also smaller than those picking up higher-earth-orbit satellites, so they don’t need so much space on the radar mast.

It is offering a flat-panel version called OW1 for land-based installations, teaming up with Intellian to make it, but a marine version is not yet available, although market watchers don’t expect it to be too long before one is announced. Third-party flat-panel antenna company Kymeta, meanwhile, has been around the yachting scene for some time and offers a flat-panel antenna for superyachts that can integrate with OneWeb’s constellation.

Cardiff-based Excelerate has been in the satcom business for more than 20 years and is a OneWeb partner. “I’ve often said that in a technology business, I spend half my time being totally excited and enthused and half being terrified. Things never stand still, and the pace of change seems to be getting faster,” says David Savage, the group’s executive chairman.

The complexities of LEO are staggering compared to a GEO network, he says, which is why the technology has taken so long to realise and has led to several high-profile failures. The concept of LEO connectivity was first proposed 30 years ago, but the high costs scuppered the first companies through the door, including Iridium, which was forced into bankruptcy.

“LEO satellites are travelling at 25,000km/h, so when a yacht connects to just one it can only ‘see’ it for about 10 minutes and then it’s gone, so during that process, the yacht has to be handed over to the next one and so on and so on. LEO satellites have to work with each other as well as the ground – all at 25,000km/h – and there might be thousands of them, or at least hundreds, depending on which network,” says Savage.

Does this mean the end of satellite domes?

So is the writing on the wall for traditional VSAT linking to high-orbiting satellites? According to the owner of the 38.8-metre sailing yacht Atalante , an early adopter of Starlink Maritime, LEO is a serious contender. He describes Starlink’s tech as “transformational”, adding: “When the Atlantic and Pacific coverages are complete in March 2023 it will be revolutionary.”

Atalante had one of the first Starlink Maritime systems fitted in October 2022. “We have trialled it in port and on the recent transatlantic crossing from Palma to St Martin. In Palma, we would regularly see speeds of 35 to 50Mbps and sometimes even 80 to 90Mbps. There was not a noticeable difference between Palma and on passage to the Canaries.” He says the crew lost Starlink coverage about 430 nautical miles southwest of the Canaries and picked it up again about 175 nautical miles off St Martin.

“Class rules and insurance will mean we have to maintain our FleetBroadband service for safety communication, but if the reliability of the Starlink service continues to be good, I cannot see the point of paying for two parallel services when Starlink appears to be superior.”

As to whether Starlink is the future, Savage is sceptical. “For sure, I am in the ‘how cool is this’ camp, but I am also in the ‘where’s the catch’ camp, too. The Starlink Maritime option has  a lower contention rate, which means that  the service is shared by fewer users than the recreational vehicle or consumer offering, but  as far as I am aware, unlike the current GEO offerings, there is no way to guarantee a minimum level of service.”

Echoing the view of Loon ’s Captain Clarke, Savage adds, “The jury is out on what will happen when a large group of yachts are all trying to use Starlink in a crowded port or bay simultaneously. When it comes to guaranteed connectivity, a yacht needs as many plan Bs as possible. To rely on a single public or private network is courting disaster.”

A number of satcom equipment companies are now starting to offer solutions with as many of these plan Bs integrated as possible – taking advantage of the high speeds of LEO satellites, but with the ability to switch to higher-earth-orbit satellites if required. Whereas Starlink receivers can only see Starlink satellites, these companies have spread their bets.

Launched in January, Intellian’s latest offering, the XEO Series, automatically switches between GEO, MEO and LEO satellites – depending on which is offering the best coverage and speed. The XEO series requires the installation of a dual-band antenna, but its ability to operate across multiple frequencies means fewer domes are required.

Fort Lauderdale-based FMC GlobalSat, meanwhile, also offers a solution that packs in as much redundancy as possible, able to pick up GEO, MEO, LEO satellites across 210 countries, as well as 5G and 4G wireless networks. Emmanuel Cotrel, CEO and founder, says the best option for yacht owners is a hybrid solution.

Connection and navigation specialist KVH recently launched TracNet H90, a hybrid system that marries VSAT with 5G and Wi-Fi. Of Starlink and other LEO and MEO services in development, KVH’s Chris Watson says: “People are eager to learn about what they’ll offer. LEO services may be enough for some customers, and if they’re willing to accept the occasional outages, lack of live support and additional services and more.

“However, we’ve always believed that ‘good enough’ is never good enough when you’re on the water. That’s why we see the new LEO services as part of a genuinely robust connectivity solution for yachts. We designed our TracNet systems to offer that hybrid concept by seamlessly combining VSAT, 5G and Wi-Fi into a single antenna, while integrating and managing additional services, like Starlink, through intelligent, automatic switching for the best connections all the time.”

Savage’s company Excelerate, meanwhile, has launched a product called Hybrid Edge, which can pull in feeds from OneWeb, Starlink, 4/5G and higher-earth orbit satellites to offer the ultimate in redundancy and speed, since the device is able to combine bandwidths. It should be noted, however, that users will still need the relevant receivers on their radar masts for each connection to work.

“Starlink is grabbing the headlines now because it is the first LEO service to hit the mass market,” says Savage. “And while it isn’t the  only LEO service out there, it is enjoying a  period of very little competition, particularly because of the low capital outlay required by users to enjoy the service and the relatively low monthly connectivity costs compared to anything else out there.”

But competition for Starlink is growing as space gets more and more crowded with LEO constellations. Astronomers aren’t happy, but your teenager will be when they’re streaming the latest Netflix release in the middle of the Pacific.

First published in the March 2023 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

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Shirtless elon musk vacations in mykonos on luxury yacht.

Let’s just hope he applied sunscreen with a high SPF.

A shirtless Elon Musk was seen soaking up the sun aboard a luxury yacht in Mykonos, Greece, on Sunday, per exclusive photos obtained by Page Six.

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The multibillionaire was with a small group that included newlywed pals Ari Emanuel and Sarah Staudinger as they sailed the Aegean Sea on the “Zeus” — an almost $20,000-per-week motor yacht that can accommodate six guests in over three cabins and comes with a professional crew.

Musk, 51, boarded the swanky boat wearing a plain white T-shirt, black swim trunks, dark sunglasses, a black baseball cap and matching flip-flops.

The Tesla CEO soon stripped down to just his bathing suit and took a dive into the ocean. Once back on the yacht, Endeavor CEO Emanuel — long held to be the inspiration for fictional Hollywood agent Ari Gold in “Entourage” — hosed him down.

Musk was later seen enjoying a cocktail before the group headed out to explore the island.

The SpaceX founder — who recently confirmed to Page Six exclusively that he had welcomed his 10th child — did not seem the least bit bothered by Twitter’s massive lawsuit against him.

Musk first  agreed to buy the social media website for $44 billion in April but pulled out of the deal earlier this month on the belief the platform may be lying about what percentage of its users are bots.

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Elon musk plans to counter-sue twitter over $44 billion deal.

In their filing, Twitter’s attorneys  described Musk’s claim as a “bad faith” attempt to walk away from the agreement.

In response, Musk called the company’s suit “meritless” and and told a judge that he needs until next year to formally respond.

The business tycoon informed us earlier this month that he had quietly welcomed twins  with his Neuralink executive,  Shivon Zilis , in November 2021, adding that he had no plans to stop procreating.

When congratulated on the newest additions to his brood, he replied, “Thanks,” followed by, “Bravo to big families.”

When asked how many kids he would like to have, Musk said, “As many as I am able to spend time with and be a good father.”

Elon Musk’s misleading election claims reach millions and alarm election officials

The X billionaire’s false posts about noncitizen voting spur officials to fact-check him, lead to requests to purge voter rolls, and add to worries about threats, election officials say.

The chairman of the board of elections in Montgomery County, Pa., was well acquainted with the regular attendees at his monthly meetings who peddled old, debunked voting conspiracy theories.

But something changed after April 4, the chairman, Neil Makhija, explained in an interview. That was the day Elon Musk retweeted a false claim that as many as 2 million noncitizens had been registered to vote in Texas, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Suddenly, the same people were coming to the meetings with a new, unsubstantiated theory of voter fraud that appeared to align with Musk’s latest post: They were convinced that droves of noncitizens were voting illegally in their suburban Philadelphia county of nearly a million people.

For Makhija, a Democrat who is also a member of the county board of commissioners, it was a lesson in the influence of Musk, the South Africa-born billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. In the two years since he bought Twitter, now X, Musk has transformed it into a primary source of false election rumors, both by spreading them on his own account, which has 197 million followers, and lowering some of the site’s guardrails around misinformation.

“You have one of the richest men in the world putting out this idea that the elections are fraudulent and the results are questionable,” Makhija said. “X has obviously become a platform for misinformation and disinformation. Because we know it’s not true.”

Musk’s online utterances don’t stay online. His false and misleading election posts add to the deluge of inaccurate information plaguing voting officials across the country. Election officials say his posts about supposed voter fraud often coincide with an increase in baseless requests to purge voter rolls and heighten their worry over violent threats. Experts say Musk is uniquely dangerous as a purveyor of misinformation because his digital following stretches well beyond the political realm and into the technology and investment sectors, where his business achievements have earned him credibility.

After Musk bought Twitter, he made deep cuts in staff responsible for maintaining standards on the site, courted major conservative figures , and reoriented the platform to boost the reach of his account, which frequently spreads false statements without being subject to the kinds of fact checks that previously existed on the site . He reinstated accounts previously banned for violating the platform’s rules, including Donald Trump’s, and promised to usher in a less restrictive era.

Musk long described his politics as libertarian, but in recent years, he has become an increasingly outspoken supporter of conservative causes . He has said he supported Democrats for president between 2008 and 2020, but after the assassination attempt on Trump in July, Musk posted a photo of the Republican presidential candidate , face bloodied, with his fist in the air, and endorsed him for 2024 and welcomed him back to X with a l ive-streamed conversation between the two. Last week, Trump said that if elected, he would put Musk in charge of a government efficiency commission .

This article is based on interviews with more than two dozen election officials and experts, some of whom spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to protect themselves and their organizations in a polarized election season. Most of them said it’s difficult to prove that Musk has caused the inundation of demands from misinformed voters but that it’s clear to them the two have coincided and are related.

Musk, who bought Twitter in November 2022, has repeatedly claimed without evidence that Democrats are “ importing ” undocumented people to vote in the coming election, a popular 2024 iteration of the Great Replacement Theory, which holds that a global elite is replacing European-descended populations with non-White people. He has falsely asserted that electronic voting machines are unreliable and that the country should return to hand-counting ballots . And he has promoted deepfakes and other deceptive images aimed at undermining politicians he doesn’t support.

Between his purchase of Twitter and Thursday, Musk’s 52 posts or reposts about noncitizen voting — one of the main topics of false or misleading election claims he made in that time period — drew almost 700 million views, according to a Post analysis.

A separate analysis found that 50 of Musk’s false or misleading claims about the U.S. election between Jan. 1 and July 31 were debunked by independent fact-checkers and still generated almost 1.2 billion views, according to a recent study from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. None displayed community notes, X’s term for user-generated fact checks that Musk has promised serve as an “immediate way to refute anything false” that is posted on the platform.

X did not respond to a detailed list of questions for Musk.

His frequent amplification of election untruths has spurred typically low-profile election officials to publicly fact-check him. His immense reach far outstrips theirs, so they say they attempt to blunt the damage of his false posts by piggybacking on them with truthful fact checks of their own.

But in their effort to spread accurate election information, they are up against a formidable adversary. “The great risk in a privatized public sphere,” said Sophia Rosenfeld, a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Democracy and Truth: A Short History,” is that the owner, in this case, Musk, “can control both the flow of information and the content of that information to suit their own needs, whether financial, ideological, or both.”

Musk’s control of X and his large following mean a single post from him can effectively take fringe election-denial falsehoods mainstream, experts say.

In Michigan, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said her office tracked a direct correlation between Musk’s inaccurate tweets about elections and subsequent waves of harassment of local and state election administrators.

“Every time he has put something out falsely questioning the integrity of our elections, there is a dramatic uptick in threats and vitriol made to us on social media,” Benson said. “Sometimes that translates into offline threats that my security team needs to then be made aware of.”

In Arizona, Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer said he sees a link between Musk’s misinformation and the scores of requests he and other election administrators have received, mostly unfounded, to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. “He’s by no means unique,” Richer said. “He just happens to have a very, very large microphone.”

Musk has more followers than any other account on X. He has designed the platform to boost his posts more than those of other accounts. He ignores the well-established election safeguards in this country, election officials say.

On Aug. 13, Musk posted about U.S. voting machines’ potential vulnerability to hacking. “Let’s use paper ballots!” Musk wrote, in a post that received nearly 22 million views. The next day, Jen Easterly, the director of the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), responded with a seven-part fact-check thread : “Great to see your focus on the security of our nation’s elections. Definitely agree on paper ballots,” Easterly wrote, tagging Musk. “Good news is that some 95% of registered voters now live in jurisdictions that have voter verified paper records.” Her most popular response to Musk received 53,900 views.

Musk’s first tweet that The Post identified as explicitly referencing noncitizen voting came on Dec. 21, 2023.

“A member of Congress told me that this is a deliberate means of importing future left-wing voters. Viewed through that lens, this administration’s facilitation of massive illegal immigration precisely matches their goal,” Musk, who didn’t identify the lawmaker, wrote in reply to a tweet by Republican donor and tech investor Joe Lonsdale about an undocumented immigrant allegedly involved in a hit-and-run.

From that first mention, Musk went on to post about alleged voting by noncitizens dozens of times in the following months, replying to agree with dozens more posts by others promoting spurious theories about noncitizen voting, which experts say is extremely rare.

Musk accused Democrats of “importing” or having “imported” voters on two dozen separate occasions, echoing his first post on the topic. And he often replied to or retweeted users who mock diversity initiatives and other liberal causes.

In Montgomery County, Pa., one result of Musk’s tweet, according to Makhija, has been a regular stream of questions about noncitizen voting at public meetings. A sign of how difficult it is for election officials to correct Musk’s false claims: One public commenter at the election board’s June 27 meeting said the absence of evidence of noncitizen voting was a failure of the county board to find it. Another commenter demanded that signs be posted at every polling location declaring that noncitizens may not vote.

“It’s a commonsense way to guarantee that U.S. citizens are not disenfranchised,” that woman said.

Musk’s claims about noncitizen voting dovetail with a major Republican legislative effort: the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act , or SAVE Act, a proposal Republicans have prioritized as an election-year talking point even as research shows noncitizens illegally registering and casting ballots in federal elections is an exceptionally infrequent occurrence.

Musk has said that he wants the elections this year to be under a “microscope,” according to a prominent Republican who has spoken to him. He has sometimes peppered Trump’s advisers with questions about what they’re doing to protect the election, according to the Republican and other people familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions. He asked the Republican National Committee for a briefing on their election integrity efforts in early 2024, people familiar with the matter said.

At a February meeting of billionaires and top political strategists at the Palm Beach, Fla., mansion of GOP megadonor and investor Nelson Peltz, Musk said that he feared immigrants coming into the country would vote, making it harder for Republicans to win elections, according to attendees.

In April, Musk retweeted a post from the account @EndWokeness alleging, without evidence, that large numbers of voters were registering in the United States without identification. Musk added the comment: “extremely concerning.” His post received 59 million views.

The original post asserted that “the number of voters without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING in 3 key swing states: Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania.” The account incorrectly referenced data from the Social Security Administration, which verifies information any time a state registers a new voter without a photo ID. Anyone who registers to vote with only a name, date of birth and a Social Security number is referred to the Social Security Administration for verification. The post conflated those figures with the number of people who had been verified automatically and alleged that those three states allowed over 2 million undocumented people to register to vote.

Following that false post, election officials in Texas and Arizona publicly fact-checked the claim.

Jane Nelson, the Republican Texas secretary of state who was appointed last year by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, issued a statement calling the information Musk shared “totally inaccurate.” The post received 206,000 views. Nelson did not respond to a request for comment.

In North Carolina, the State Board of Elections has seen an “uptick in questions, concerns and complaints about how much election officials do to ensure noncitizens cannot vote in North Carolina,” which coincides with the spike in posts on noncitizen voting from Musk, according to Patrick Gannon, the board’s spokesman.

“He’s one of the most influential people in the world, with like a gagillion followers,” Richer, the Maricopa County recorder, said. “My goal [in responding to him] was just piggybacking on the topic to offer accurate information to anyone who would care to learn more about the subject and are willing to go into the comments.”

Richer reposted Musk’s message with an eight-part response debunking the original post. “Only 39,653 new voters have registered in Maricopa County in 2024 in total. For Arizona, that number is about 60,000,” Richer wrote on X. His initial post received 2.5 million views, orders of magnitude fewer than Musk’s.

He added that “there is zero validity to the suggestion in the original post that 220,731 illegal immigrants have registered in Arizona in 2024.”

Richer, who lost his bid for reelection in the Republican primary in July, said that “certainly we see a correlative link” between Musk’s misinformation and the requests to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, “especially when he started asking about noncitizen voting happening in elections.”

Musk appears undeterred. On Wednesday, America First Legal, run by former Trump administration officials, posted a copy of its lawsuit on X that it was suing “ALL 15 counties in Arizona for refusing to remove illegals from their voter rolls.” Musk replied in a post that garnered 38 million views : “Arizona is refusing to remove illegals from voter rolls?”

Richer responded to Musk , explaining that lawsuits can make unproven allegations and can also be used as a way to generate headlines and not necessarily legal victories. Richer wrote that the suit “will lose. Just like every lawsuit (50+) that has been filed against my office since I took office.”

Richer concluded by repeating an offer to explain to Musk how Arizona elections work. Musk did not respond.

“Musk puts out this malarkey and he says nonsense, uneducated things and he gets corrected,” said Tom Irvine, who for 15 years was the primary outside counsel for elections in Maricopa and defended the county against election challenges following the 2020 presidential election. “And then he says it again and again and again.”

Musk’s frequent posts about voter fraud have made him useful to election conspiracy theory groups such as Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network. “Michigan Fair Elections” is the group’s Michigan arm, and it runs an active blog that cites Musk regularly .

Musk has been lauded several times by the right-wing conspiracy site the Gateway Pundit, which recently praised Musk with headlines such as: “HE GETS IT! Elon Musk Steps Up Election Integrity Crusade.”

The falsehoods spreading on X have not just transformed a single platform . Musk’s purchase of Twitter and his immediate retreat from moderating messages “created a permission structure for other platforms to also retreat from content moderation,” said Ishan Mehta, director of the media and democracy program at Common Cause, a nonprofit that advocates for voting rights and other democracy-related issues. “Every other major platform can now point to X and say, ‘At least we’re not as bad as they are.’”

Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.

Elon Musk Announces to Reinvent Boats and Planes

The new frontier: sustainable boats and planes.

During the Tesla Investor Day on March 1, 2023, Elon Musk outlined plans to reinvent boats and planes, underscoring the company’s efforts toward a sustainable energy economy. Musk has already disrupted the automotive sector, and his Master Plan now involves a full overhaul of how people use aircraft and boats while lowering toxic emissions.

“A necessary part of the pie is sustainably fueling planes and boats,” Drew Baglino, SVP, Powertrain and Energy Engineering at Tesla, said on the stage. “Shipping accounts for 3% of global CO2. It’s right for electrification, even with lithium ion, phosphate. Long haul ships can be fully battery powered, so that’s a great opportunity to electrify. He acknowledged that energy density is a bit “harder” to have battery powered planes “but short haul is doable today.”

“With some improvements will get long haul underway, but even in the meantime, we can leverage sustainable aviation fuels produced and stored using excess renewable electricity. There’s a lot of work going on in this space,” Musk said.

Musk went on to say that in order to have long-range battery-powered aircrafts and boats, the ship and plane must be completely redesigned.

“Just like with an electric car, you wouldn’t just, you know, take a gasoline car and stick a battery in it. That’s very suboptimal. It’s much more efficient to have the battery beat the structure of the car.” he said, adding that “if that’s done with the aircraft you can get long range aircraft.”

Musk concluded that: “As we improve the energy density of batteries you’ll see all transportation go fully electric, with the exception of rockets.”

How will this affect the future of financing in the marine industry?

The future of boat financing with battery-operated boats is likely to be shaped by several factors, including the availability and cost of batteries, the adoption rate of electric boats by consumers, and the development of new financing models.

As battery technology continues to improve, the cost of batteries is expected to decrease, making electric boats more affordable for consumers. This could lead to an increase in the adoption of electric boats, which would in turn create more demand for boat financing options specifically tailored to electric boats.

In addition, new financing models may emerge that are designed to address the unique needs of electric boats. For example, some lenders may offer financing packages that include the cost of batteries, or they may offer flexible repayment terms that take into account the lower operating costs of electric boats.

Overall, the future of boat financing with battery-operated boats is likely to be characterized by innovation and flexibility, as lenders and boat manufacturers work to meet the changing needs of consumers in a rapidly evolving market.

Interested in getting pre-approved? Contact a Loan Officer today at [email protected] | 1-888-311-0101

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Private planes, mansions and superyachts: What gives billionaires like Musk and Abramovich such a massive carbon footprint

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Tesla’s Elon Musk and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have been vying for the world’s richest person ranking all year after the former’s wealth soared a staggering US$160 billion in 2020, putting him briefly in the top spot .

Musk isn’t alone in seeing a significant increase in wealth during a year of pandemic, recession and death. Altogether, the world’s billionaires saw their wealth surge over $1.9 trillion in 2020, according to Forbes.

Those are astronomical numbers, and it’s hard to get one’s head around them without some context. As anthropologists who study energy and consumer culture, we wanted to examine how all that wealth translated into consumption and the resulting carbon footprint.

Walking in a billionaire’s shoes

We found that billionaires have carbon footprints that can be thousands of times higher than those of average Americans.

The wealthy own yachts, planes and multiple mansions, all of which contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. For example, a superyacht with a permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines and pools emits about 7,020 tons of CO2 a year, according to our calculations, making it by the far worst asset to own from an environmental standpoint. Transportation and real estate make up the lion’s share of most people’s carbon footprint, so we focused on calculating those categories for each billionaire.

To pick a sample of billionaires, we started with the 2020 Forbes List of 2,095 billionaires. A random or representatives sample of billionaire carbon footprints is impossible because most wealthy people shy away from publicity , so we had to focus on those whose consumption is public knowledge. This excluded most of the superrich in Asia and the Middle East .

We combed 82 databases of public records to document billionaires’ houses, vehicles, aircraft and yachts. After an exhaustive search, we started with 20 well-known billionaires whose possessions we were able to ascertain, while trying to include some diversity in gender and geography. We have submitted our paper for peer review but plan to continue adding to our list.

We then used a wide range of sources, such as the U.S. Energy Information Administration and Carbon Footprint , to estimate the annual CO2 emissions of each house, aircraft, vehicle and yacht. In some cases we had to estimate the size of houses from satellite images or photos and the use of private aircraft and yachts by searching the popular press and drawing on other studies . Our results are based on analyzing typical use of each asset given its size and everything else we could learn.

We did not try to calculate each asset’s “ embodied carbon ” emissions – that is, how much CO2 is burned throughout the supply chain in making the product – or the emissions produced by their family, household employees or entourage. We also didn’t include the emissions of companies of which they own part or all, because that would have added another significant degree of complexity. For example, we didn’t calculate the emissions of Tesla or Amazon when calculating Musk’s or Bezos’ footprints.

In other words, these are all likely conservative estimates of how much they emit.

Your carbon footprint

To get a sense of perspective, let’s start with the carbon footprint of the average person.

Residents of the U.S., including billionaires, emitted about 15 tons of CO2 per person in 2018. The global average footprint is smaller, at just about 5 tons per person.

In contrast, the 20 people in our sample contributed an average of about 8,190 tons of CO2 in 2018. But some produced far more greenhouse gases than others.

The jet-setting billionaire

Roman Abramovich, who made most of his $19 billion fortune trading oil and gas, was the biggest polluter on our list. Outside of Russia, he is probably best known as the headline-grabbing owner of London’s Chelsea Football Club.

Abramovich cruises the Mediterranean in his superyacht, named the Eclipse , which at 162.5 meters bow to stern is the second-biggest in the world, rivaling some cruise ships. And he hops the globe on a custom-designed Boeing 767 , which boasts a 30-seat dining room. He takes shorter trips in his Gulfstream G650 jet, one of his two helicopters or the submarine on his yacht.

He maintains homes in many countries, including a mansion in London’s Kensington Park Gardens, a chateau in Cap D’Antibes in France and a 28-hectare estate in St. Barts that once belonged to David Rockefeller . In 2018, he left the U.K. and settled in Israel , where he became a dual citizen and bought a home in 2020 for $64.5 million.

We estimate that he was responsible for at least 33,859 metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2018 – more than two-thirds from his yacht, which is always ready to use at a moment’s notice year-round.

Massive mansions and private jets

Bill Gates, currently the world’s fourth-richest person with $124 billion, is a “modest” polluter – by billionaire standards – and is typical of those who may not own a giant yacht but make up for it with private jets.

Co-founder of Microsoft, he retired in 2020 to manage the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charity, with an endowment of $50 billion.

In the 1990s, Gates built Xanadu – named after the vast fictional estate in Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” – at a cost of $127 million in Medina, Washington. The giant home covers 6,131 square meters, with a 23-car garage, a 20-person cinema and 24 bathrooms. He also owns at least five other dwellings in Southern California, the San Juan Islands in Washington state, North Salem, New York, and New York City, as well as a horse farm , four private jets, a seaplane and “a collection” of helicopters .

We estimated his annual footprint at 7,493 metric tons of carbon, mostly from a lot of flying.

The environmentally minded tech CEO

South African-born Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has a surprisingly low carbon footprint despite being the world’s second-richest person, with $177 billion – and he seems intent on setting an example for other billionaires .

He doesn’t own a superyacht and says he doesn’t even take vacations .

We calculated a relatively modest carbon footprint for him in 2018, thanks to his eight houses and one private jet. This year, his carbon footprint would be even lower because in 2020 he sold all of his houses and promised to divest the rest of his worldly possessions .

While his personal carbon footprint is still hundreds of times higher than that of an average person, he demonstrates that the superrich still have choices to make and can indeed lower their environmental impact if they so choose.

His estimated footprint from the assets we looked at was 2,084 tons in 2018.

The value of naming and shaming

The aim of our ongoing research is to get people to think about the environmental burden of wealth.

While plenty of research has shown that rich countries and wealthy people produce far more than their share of greenhouse gas emissions, these studies can feel abstract and academic, making it harder to change this behavior.

[ Like what you’ve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter .]

We believe “shaming” – for lack of a better word – superrich people for their energy-intensive spending habits can have an important impact, revealing them as models of overconsumption that people shouldn’t emulate.

Newspapers, cities and local residents made an impact during the California droughts of 2014 and 2015 by “drought shaming” celebrities and others who were wasting water, seen in their continually green lawns . And the Swedes came up with a new term – “ flygskam ” or flying shame – to raise awareness about the climate impact of air travel.

Climate experts say that to have any hope of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, countries must cut their emissions in half by 2030 and eliminate them by 2050.

Asking average Americans to adopt less carbon-intensive lifestyles to achieve this goal can be galling and ineffective when it would take about 550 of their lifetimes to equal the carbon footprint of the average billionaire on our list.

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Best Of: Inside Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover / Comic Taylor Tomlinson

Journalists Ryan Mac and Kate Conger talk about the chaos Elon Musk created inside Twitter, how Musk moved further to the political right, and how Trump wants to appoint Musk to head a new efficiency commission. Their book is Character Limit . Also, we'll hear from comedian Taylor Tomlinson, host of CBS's late-night talk show After Midnight . Tomlinson started doing stand up when she was 16 and took a class with a Christian comedian. Then she started testing her material on the church circuit. And, Maureen Corrigan reviews Rachel Kushner's new novel, Creation Lake .

From Elon Musk to Kim Kardashian, this luxurious explorer yacht can be configured to satisfy a billionaire’s every whim. The 262 feet long vessel can have everything from a full fledged laboratory to a dive center to a helicopter hangar to even a rocking nightclub.

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Scared of getting his superyacht seized, this unsanctioned Russian retail billionaire has turned off the location transponders of his $250 million yacht for more than 3 months now. As long as a football field the vessel comes with a beach club, spa & zero speed stabilizers.

Taking a page of generosity from Mackenzie Scott’s book – Jeff Bezos and his family have pledged to donate $710.5 million to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle

Facing bankruptcy, this enterprising tycoon, nicknamed the German Bill Gates, is selling his Lürssen superyacht at an unheard discount of $30 million. Longer than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, the six-decker luxury vessel has a spa, a massive master suite, and a helipad.

Liu Yiqian, the taxi driver turned billionaire who bought art worth millions using his American Express card is set to sell $150 million worth of art pieces at Sotheby’s this fall.

Jeff Bezos’ $500 million megayacht is seen for the first time with its three massive masts installed. Taller than the Pyramids of Giza, the vessel is ready for its maiden voyage.

Like a true centibillionaire, Mark Zuckerberg celebrated his 40th birthday by flying to Panama on his private jet to board his $300 million superyacht, ‘Launchpad.’ The luxurious yacht and its support vessel had gathered in Panama for the grand festivities of the Facebook founder.

Worth 5 times more than Elon Musk and Bill Gates combined, the Saudi royal family leads a life so luxurious that even billionaires cannot imagine – Their megayacht has a $450M painting, they drive gold plated supercars and their palaces have thousands of rooms.

Superyacht Ocean Pearl to grace the oceans soon

With a top speed of 16,000 mph, this hypersonic private jet makes the Concorde look like a Tortoise. It flies on the edge of space and can zip from New York to London in a mere 11 minutes.

Watch CBS News

Elon Musk says he denied Ukraine satellite request to avoid complicity in "major act of war" vs. Russia

September 8, 2023 / 11:49 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Washington — Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said that he prevented a Ukrainian attack on a Russian Navy base last year by declining Kyiv's request to activate internet access in the Black Sea near Moscow-annexed Crimea . Satellite internet service Starlink, operated by Musk-owned company SpaceX, has been deployed in Ukraine since shortly after it was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

"There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol. The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor," Musk posted Thursday on X, formerly named Twitter.

There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol. The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor. If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and… — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023

The city of Sevastopol is the base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

"If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation," Musk said.

Musk was posting in response to a published excerpt of an upcoming biography of the tech tycoo n by Walter Isaacson.

In the excerpt published by The Washington Post on Thursday, Isaacson wrote that in September last year, "The Ukrainian military was attempting a sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet based at Sevastopol in Crimea by sending six small drone submarines packed with explosives, and it was using Starlink to guide them to the target."

Musk had "spoken to the Russian ambassador to the United States... (who) had explicitly told him that a Ukrainian attack on Crimea would lead to a nuclear response," Isaacson wrote.

Musk "secretly told his engineers to turn off coverage within 100 kilometers of the Crimean coast. As a result, when the Ukrainian drone subs got near the Russian fleet in Sevastopol, they lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly", according to Isaacson.

In another post on Thursday, Musk countered Isaacson's account.

"The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything," Musk posted.

Russia's ex-president and senior security official Dmitry Medvedev, in response to Isaacson's detailing of the incident, lauded Musk.

"(Musk) was concerned about a retaliatory nuclear strike," Medvedev posted on X Thursday. "If what Isaacson has written in his book is true, then it looks like Musk is the last adequate mind in North America. Or, at the very least, in gender-neutral America, he is the one with the balls."

Musk also called Thursday for a truce in the conflict.

"Both sides should agree to a truce. Every day that passes, more Ukrainian and Russian youth die to gain and lose small pieces of land, with borders barely changing. This is not worth their lives," he posted.

The technology mogul has been embroiled in previous public spats with Ukrainian leaders who've been angered by his controversial proposals to deescalate the conflict, including acknowledging Russian sovereignty over the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

In October 2022, eight months after he says he made the decision to deny Ukraine's "urgent" request to extend the Starlink coverage, Musk changed course after suggesting he would stop funding the use of his satellite network by Ukraine.

Musk had said that SpaceX would not be able to pay for Starlink in Ukraine indefinitely, but the next day he said in a tweet: "The hell with it. Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we'll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free." 

He changed his mind after the U.S. military confirmed it was communicating with the billionaire's company about the possibility of U.S. government funding for Ukraine to continue using the satellite network.  

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Elon Musk wants Jeff Bezos to 'get out of his hot tub and yacht' so Blue Origin can be more successful, biographer says

• Elon Musk's biographer said the billionaire wants Jeff Bezos to focus his energy on Blue Origin.
• Walter Isaacson said on the "Diary of a CEO" podcast that Musk wants Bezos to grow the company. 
• Musk previously told the FT that he was trying to goad Bezos so the firm would make more progress.

Elon Musk's biographer said the billionaire wants Jeff Bezos to "get out of his hot tub and yacht," and focus his efforts on his aerospace company, Blue Origin.  

During a recent appearance on the "Diary of a CEO" podcast, Walter Isaacson said the competitors "don't hang out together," but that "Musk respects Bezos." Isaacson, whose biography of Elon Musk came out in September, told the podcast host, Steven Bartlett, how the SpaceX founder views Bezos. He said, "Musk says I want Bezos to succeed. I want him to be driving us into space because the more that do it, the better. I wish he would get out of his hot tub and yacht more often so Blue Origin can be more successful."

Bezos left Amazon in July 2021 and handed the reins to Andy Jassy.

He set sail on his  $500 million megayacht Koru this summer, which reportedly has a hot tub on deck.

In 2021, the SpaceX chief told the Financial Times, "In some ways, I'm trying to goad him into spending more time at Blue Origin so they make more progress. As a friend of mine says, he should spend more time at Blue Origin and less time in the hot tub."  Musk and Bezos have feuded for years over their space ambitions. Isaacson said on the podcast that Musk "hasn't gone ballistic" on the Amazon founder since their quarrel over a patent for a rocket-booster recovery method ended.

Blue Origin filed a paten t for the concept in 2010. It was initially granted in 2014. SpaceX then petitioned the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board a few months later, saying that "the 'rocket science' claimed in the patent was "old hat'."

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In 2015, the board canceled  the remaining 13 of the 15 claims in that patent following a request from Blue Origin itself to do so. The judges ruled mostly in SpaceX's favor.

The idea that Bezos was trying to patent the idea made Musk furious, Isaacson said.

Representatives for Elon Musk didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours. 

Watch: Why Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are in an epic feud that's lasted years

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Breaking news, elon musk ‘passed out’ during moscow meeting with russians after taking vodka shots: book.

Elon Musk once got so drunk after downing several shots of vodka during a business meeting in Moscow that he “passed out,” according to excerpts from a new book.

Musk flew to the Russian capital in 2002 to negotiate the purchase of rockets for his proposed mission to Mars that would land a greenhouse on the surface of the red planet , writes Walter Isaacson in the new biography about the world’s richest man.

The night before, he had stopped in Paris, where Musk partied late into the night, according to Isaacson.

He arrived hung over and “ragged” for the business lunch at the Moscow restaurant to meet with an unidentified Russian businessman, according to a copy of the book, “Elon Musk,” obtained by The Post.

Musk and his two associates — rocket engineer Jim Cantrell and venture capitalist Adeo Ressi — were seated in a backroom, where they were served “small bites of food interspersed with large shots of vodka,” wrote Isaacson, who was given unprecedented access to Musk and shadowed him for two years.

“I calculated the weight of the food and the weight of the vodka, and they were roughly equal,” Musk told Isaacson.

Isaacson then writes: “Musk, who was holding his head up with his hand, passed out, and his head slammed into the table.”

Musk, who had yet to found Space X at the time of the meeting, came away mostly empty-handed from the trip, according to Isaacson.

The mogul thought he had an agreement to buy two Dnepr rockets for $18 million, but the Russians’ asking price was actually $18 million for each of the two rockets, Isaacson reported.

Musk balked at the price, prompting the Russians to demand $21 million for each rocket, according to the biography.

“Oh, little boy, you don’t have the money?” the Russians said to Musk, taunting him.

The three men were given a bottle of vodka as a parting gift. The label on the bottom included a photo depicting each of the men on Mars.

The collapse of the talks prompted Musk to abandon Mars Oasis, the goal of which was to grow a plant in Martian soil as a publicity stunt to boost interest in space travel to the planet.

Musk then decided that instead of relying on the Russians or anyone else to provide a rocket, he could simply build one himself.

A little red wine, vintage record, some Ambien … and magic! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 7, 2017

Weeks after the meeting, Musk would go on to found SpaceX, the aerospace firm and rocket-launching company whose goal is to make space travel and interplanetary transport affordable to the masses.

As of July, SpaceX reportedly had a valuation of nearly $150 billion.

Musk is not known to be an avid drinker, though he was photographed at the World Cup in Qatar last year sipping from a wine glass.

Last summer, Musk was seen holding a drink while shirtless aboard a yacht off the coast of Mykonos, where he was celebrating his newlywed friend, super-agent Ari Emanuel.

“A little red wine, vintage record, some Ambien… and magic!” Musk wrote in a 2017 post on the social media platform which was then known as Twitter but has since been rebranded X after the mogul acquired the company for $44 billion last year.

Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk consumes small doses of ketamine to treat depression and takes full doses of the popular club drug when he attends parties.

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Does elon musk have a yacht?

Does Elon Musk Have a Yacht?

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is known for his innovative ideas, successful ventures, and extravagant lifestyle. As one of the richest people in the world, Musk has access to the finest things money can buy, including a luxurious yacht. But does he really own a yacht?

The Answer: Yes, Elon Musk Has a Yacht

After scouring through various sources, including Musk’s social media accounts, news articles, and celebrity sightings, it’s clear that Elon Musk does own a yacht . In fact, he has been spotted on several occasions sailing the world’s most luxurious yachts, including the Azzam , the world’s largest private yacht, and the Rising Sun , owned by Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle.

Musk’s Yacht, the Serene***

Musk’s yacht of choice is the Serene , a 390-foot (119-meter) luxury yacht built by the German shipyard Lürssen. The Serene is a superyacht that boasts six decks, 12 cabins, and a crew of 30. With a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h), the Serene is capable of sailing across the world’s oceans in style.

Features of the Serene

Here are some of the Serene’s impressive features:

• Infinity pool : A sleek, glass-bottomed pool that offers breathtaking views of the ocean
• Private cinema : A state-of-the-art movie theater for private screenings
• Sauna and steam room : For ultimate relaxation and pampering
• Fitness center : A fully equipped gym for staying fit on the high seas
• Dining areas : Formal and informal dining areas for up to 24 guests
• Helipad : A helipad for convenient travel to and from the yacht

Why Does Elon Musk Need a Yacht?

You might wonder why Elon Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur, needs a yacht. After all, he has a private jet and a fleet of high-performance cars at his disposal. However, owning a yacht offers Musk a unique combination of luxury, adventure, and relaxation. The Serene is the perfect vessel for Musk to unwind with his friends and family, entertain business clients, or simply enjoy the thrill of sailing the world’s oceans.

Musk’s Yachting Lifestyle

Musk’s love for yachting is well-documented. He has been spotted on several yachts, including the Azzam , which is owned by the royal family of Abu Dhabi. Musk has also been known to charter luxury yachts for special occasions, such as his 48th birthday celebration in 2020.

Elon Musk’s Yachting Philanthropy

Musk is not only a passionate yachter but also a philanthropist. He has used his yachts to raise awareness and funds for various charitable causes, including SpaceX’s STEM education programs and Tesla’s environmental initiatives .

In conclusion, Elon Musk does own a yacht, the Serene , which is a luxurious and impressive vessel. With its state-of-the-art features and sleek design, the Serene is the perfect reflection of Musk’s love for innovation, luxury, and adventure. Whether he’s sailing the world’s oceans, entertaining business clients, or relaxing with his loved ones, Musk’s yacht is the ultimate symbol of his success and generosity.

Table: Elon Musk’s Yachts

Bullet Points: Elon Musk’s Yachting Preferences

• Luxury and exclusivity : Musk prefers luxury yachts with exclusive features and sleek designs. • Adventure and exploration : Musk enjoys sailing the world’s oceans and exploring new destinations. • Relaxation and entertainment : Musk uses his yacht to unwind with his friends and family or entertain business clients. • Philanthropy and giving back : Musk uses his yacht to raise awareness and funds for charitable causes.

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United Airlines to offer free Wi-Fi using Starlink from Elon Musk's SpaceX

United Airlines  said Friday that it plans to offer inflight Wi-Fi for free using Starlink from  Elon Musk ’s SpaceX on its hundreds of jetliners, the biggest inflight internet deal yet for the satellite service provider.

The team-up comes as airlines have been investing in faster inflight Wi-Fi, sometimes offering it for free, in a bid to attract higher-paying customers like business travelers.

Delta Air Lines  announced in early 2023 that  onboard internet  would be free for members of its SkyMiles loyalty program.  Hawaiian Airlines , which has a  deal with Starlink , also offers complimentary inflight Wi-Fi.  JetBlue Airways  has offered free Wi-Fi for years.

SpaceX also previously made a deal with semi-private airline JSX.

United currently offers inflight internet from a hodgepodge of providers, including  ViaSat  and Panasonic, and charges loyalty program members $8 and everyone else $10 for access on domestic and short-haul international flights.

The carrier said it expects to have Starlink on its more than 1,000 planes over the “next several years” with the first passenger flights outfitted with the service starting early next year. United said the Wi-Fi will offer “gate-to-gate” connectivity.

United praised SpaceX’s satellite service, saying it provides “internet access around the world, including over oceans, polar regions and other remote locations previously unreachable by traditional cell or Wi-Fi signals,” a selling point for the U.S. airline with the most service over both the Atlantic and Pacific.

SpaceX has steadily expanded its Starlink network and product offerings since its debut in 2020. There are currently about 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit that connect more than 3 million customers in 100 countries, according to the company. SpaceX initially targeted consumer customers, but has expanded into other markets, including aviation.

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