Bill Gates secretly built $650,000,000 hydrogen superyacht and never stepped foot on it
Published on Feb 09, 2026 at 12:02 AM (UTC+4)
by Jason Fan
Last updated on Feb 04, 2026 at 9:44 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
When news broke that Bill Gates was behind the hydrogen superyacht Breakthrough, it sounded like the ultimate tech-billionaire move.
The 390-foot vessel, reportedly costing around $650 million, was designed to push the limits of sustainable marine technology.
Instead of running purely on diesel, it uses a hydrogen fuel-cell system and cryogenic tanks to store liquid hydrogen, making it one of the first superyachts to experiment with green propulsion on a serious level.
But in a twist that surprised many, Gates reportedly never set foot on it.
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Bill Gates’ hydrogen superyacht was an experiment
Breakthrough started life as a secretive Feadship project, codenamed Project 821, aimed at exploring what a future-facing, low-emission superyacht could look like.
With luxury cabins, expansive decks, and state-of-the-art engineering hidden beneath the sleek exterior, the yacht is far from a typical party boat.
Yet its most important mission is technological rather than recreational.
Gates’ involvement appears to have been driven by a desire to support sustainable marine innovation rather than personal leisure.
Rather than using Breakthrough as a private retreat, Gates opted for a more hands-off role, letting the yacht serve as a floating testbed for hydrogen propulsion.
Yacht industry sources suggest he valued the experimental aspects of the project over actually lounging on its sun deck.
Once completed, the hydrogen superyacht became a symbol of green ambition and a demonstration of what the next generation of yachts could achieve.
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Renting yachts instead of owning one can be more convenient
That doesn’t mean Gates is unfamiliar with the world of luxury yachts.
He is known to charter high-end vessels, like this $400 million yacht that was later snagged by Saudi royalty.
More recently, for his 66th birthday, he partied on a $200 million superyacht belonging to a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
By renting these vessels instead, he gets to bypass the long-term maintenance, staffing, and operational headaches that come with owning a superyacht.
Compared with other tech moguls who amass fleets as status symbols, Gates’ use of yachts is more pragmatic (for a billionaire at least).
In the end, while Breakthrough never hosted Bill Gates personally, it still showed his ambition to use big-money projects to solve future problems.
In a world where most billionaires flaunt their cash for indulgence, it’s heartening to see someone using their resources to explore innovation and sustainability instead.
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Jason joined the editorial team at Supercar Blondie in April 2025 as a Content Writer. As part of the growing editorial team working in Australia, and in synergy with team members in Dubai, the UK, and elsewhere in the world, he helps keep the site running 24/7, injecting his renowned accuracy and energy into every shift.
