Mark Zuckerberg buying a “super-yacht” for $150 million is fake news. There is no truth to a report that the Facebook chief executive officer had purchased a lavish “super-yacht.” Rather, the story originated with a Turkish web site where it was published, then deleted, after a Facebook spokesperson denied the story.
Where did the fake news originate? Snopes reported that an English-language Turkish newspaper published the fake news on Jan. 18, 2018 before deleting it. The story appeared in Hurriyet Daily News and reported that Zuckerberg had made an extravagant purchase in Monaco.
According to the report, Zuckerberg secretly bought the “super yacht,” Ulysses, from a reclusive New Zealand businessman, Graeme Hart, for $150 million in October 2017. According to the Turkish newspaper, the massive ship “can sail halfway around the world without refueling and is designed to endure the toughest weather conditions”—making it the perfect vessel to wait out an impending apocalypse that only you, the billionaire creator of Facebook, know about.
Among other features, the passenger yacht is equipped with a helicopter deck, eight dining locations, five lounges, five bars, a gym, a day spa, a sauna, a massage room, a wine tasting room, and a cinema, all inside a hull reportedly designed to withstand “the arctic circles and the world’s hottest regions.
Snopes noted that the sale of the yacht was first reported by news outlets; however, the buyer was not announced to the public. Shortly after Hurriyet Daily News published the story, it was quickly denied by a Zuckerberg spokesperson who said “The reports related to Mark purchasing a yacht are completely inaccurate as he did not purchase a yacht.” The spokesperson added that “Mark did not buy it, does not own a yacht and was not involved in the sale.”
Here are some examples of people sharing the fake news on social media.
Mark Zuckerberg has bought an ultra-luxury yacht for $150 million that comes with a helicopter, a 24-meter tender vessel, a 4×4 vehicle and a motorcycle according to @HDNER https://t.co/QPxDqO0LlG
— Jessica Guynn (@jguynn) January 18, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg bought a $150 million ‘expedition yacht’ via Lucas Matney https://t.co/Qv3cevDRuj #BigData #ML #AI #Analytics #RPA #Blockchain pic.twitter.com/thFewSkI2Z
— Dr. Gerald Bader,PhD (@gerald_bader) January 18, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg bought a $150 million ‘expedition yacht’ https://t.co/yz8s4cTIzo #ViableReport pic.twitter.com/i0gFhTBCQV
— Viable Report (@ViableReport) January 18, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg bought a $150 million ‘expedition yacht’ https://t.co/ctmEkbTCS2 Though searching through Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page last year might have led you to think he spends all his free time cozying up to a plate of grits with random families in Louisiana, it turn… pic.twitter.com/8nrGDap11z
— Penguin Coders (@Penguin_Coders) January 18, 2018
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How did Hurriyet Daily News respond? Instead of updating or correcting its original reporting, the Hurriyet Daily News instead deleted it. Nonetheless, the fake news had done its damage as it was shared by other sites. Some web sites continue to feature posts stating that the sale went through with Zuckerberg.
What did you think of the fake news that Zuckerberg bought an expensive “super-yacht”? Did you believe the fake news or see people sharing it falsely on social media? Let us know in the comments section.
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