Google co-founder Sergey Brin is using a sustainable engineered wood instead of endangered teak on his massive new superyacht

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has made some major upgrades to his superyacht.

But the changes involve using sustainable engineered wood instead of endangered teak.

The world’s third-richest man is a proud environmentalist.

And that passion is reflected in the choice of wood found on the Lurssen Dragonfly.

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Sergey Brin makes major change to superyacht

It turns out that Sergey Brin is not your typical superyacht owner.

The Google co-founder purchased his ship, the Lurssen Dragonfly, back in December of 2024.

At 466 feet long, the vessel stretches farther than five blue whales stacked end-to-end.

Oh – and there is the small matter of the $450,000,000 price tag to consider as well.

For decades, yachts of this luxury would typically be decked in teak.

This dense, tropical hardwood is renowned for its rot resistance, as well as its salt tolerance.

But the problem is that the supply chain for teak often runs through endangered rainforests.

For example, Jeff Bezos’ superyacht, the Koru, famously used teak sourced from Myanmar during its construction.

Naturally, many assume that the uber-wealthy simply resort to the endangered resource.

But it appears that Sergey Brin is the one to buck that trend.

According to the BBC, the Google co-founder instead opted to use Tesumo.

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How does the Google co-founder’s choice work?

Tesumo replicates the look and performance/qualities of teak without actually relying on teak itself.

It was developed through a partnership between Lurssen and the University of Göttingen.

Its creation was sparked by Lurssen’s own difficulty in sourcing a credible alternative to old-growth teak.

Tesumo begins its life as a fast-growing hardwood from African forests.

It is then then thermally modified and pressure-impregnated with resin at a cellular level.

This is then cured and stabilized over a two-week period.

The end result is a material that behaves like teak, not just resembling it.

On Dragonfly, Tesumo has been installed on a helipad – covering about 300 square meters. 

It represents a massive step towards a sustainability shift in the superyacht.

Credit to the Google co-founder for making such an environmentally positive change to his superyacht.