SEATTLE — A massive superyacht reportedly linked to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg drew crowds, cameras and criticism in Seattle this week after the company announced sweeping layoffs across Washington state.
The nearly 400-foot vessel, called “Launchpad,” arrived in Seattle waters Tuesday and quickly became a spectacle in South Lake Union, where people walking and biking along the waterfront trail stopped to photograph the yacht and watch crews clean it from bow to stern.
“I think it’s a little insensitive,” Nimmy Simon said “And by little I mean a lot.”
Marine tracking data shows the yacht has visited Seattle-area waters multiple times this year, including several stops in March and January. The vessel remained moored in Seattle on Wednesday.
The timing of the yacht’s arrival fueled online debate after Meta confirmed about 1,400 layoffs in Washington state. The cuts include 699 jobs in Bellevue, 259 in Seattle, 206 in Redmond and 231 remote positions statewide.
Some people who gathered near the yacht said they viewed it as a tourist attraction. Others questioned the optics of a billionaire-linked vessel arriving during a period of layoffs in Seattle’s tech industry.
Others described the yacht as “ostentatious” or compared seeing it in Lake Union to spotting luxury vessels in Miami.
Several people said they first learned the yacht was in Seattle through Reddit posts and online photos before coming to see it themselves.
One man said the vessel was the largest yacht he had ever seen in Lake Union.
Seattle University economist Nick Huntington-Klein said the layoffs could have broader economic effects across the Seattle region because high-paying tech jobs help support restaurants, retail stores and other local businesses.
“Especially in Bellevue, where about half of these layoffs are happening in a smaller area in general,” Huntington-Klein said. “You can see those effects happening most directly and quickly.”
Meta has said the layoffs are part of broader restructuring efforts tied to artificial intelligence and company reorganization.
There has been no public confirmation that Zuckerberg is in Seattle. He did not appear to be onboard the yacht.
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