Tech billionaire’s $75 million superyacht spotted in San Francisco Bay
- Mogambo, a 73-meter yacht, was built in 2012
- Rumor has it it is owned by a tech billionaire that launched a super popular app
- It cost around $75 million
Published on May 09, 2024 at 7:29 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on May 10, 2024 at 7:22 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A superyacht we almost forgot about was recently spotted approaching San Francisco Bay.
Dubbed ‘Mogambo’, the yacht reportedly belongs to a tech billionaire who most people probably forgot about, too.
This is despite the fact most of us have probably used the app mere seconds ago – and it made him a billionaire.
READ MORE: An inside look at Jeff Bezos’ $500 million superyacht shows why it’s so expensive to keep afloat
Mogambo is a superyacht built by German shipyard Nobiskrug in 2012.
The yacht is 73.51 meters long, around 241 feet, with room 12 people in six suites, plus 19 crew.
It also has a sky lounge, a swimming pool, and – of course – a sizable ‘garage’ for toys, tenders, and sea-doos.
It even has a home theater.
We don’t know for sure who owns it at the moment, but numerous reports indicate Ukrainian-American businessman, Jan Koum, as her owner.
You may have never heard of him, but you’ve probably used the app that made him rich.
In 2009, Koum and Brian Acton, both former Yahoo! employees, launched WhatsApp.
That’s why spending $75 million, which is the price he reportedly paid for this yacht, is a drop in the ocean for a person with that kind of net worth.
With over three billion users active every month, WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular instant messaging apps.
In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which was still known as Facebook back then, acquired WhatsApp for $19.3 billion.
Mind you, the deal was not a cash-only deal.
Acton and Koum received around $4 billion in cash and the rest was paid in Facebook shares.
For the record, Facebook/Meta stock price is nearly 10 times higher than it was in 2014.
It recently reached a new all-time high after briefly crashing in late 2023.
So if Koum still owns the yacht, we’re going to assume he can probably afford its upkeep.
And maybe he doesn’t have to, anyway.
Because the one thing we know for sure is the yacht is also available to charter, for a cool $650,000 per week.
Alessandro is an automotive journalist with 10 years of experience covering supercars, automotive history, emerging vehicle technology, and luxury transportation. He wrote the first article published on SupercarBlondie.com when the website launched in 2022 and has since built a reputation for insightful reporting across the automotive and transportation industries. His expertise is grounded in hands-on experience. Alessandro has driven every Tesla model ever produced, from the original Roadster to the Cybertruck, and regularly covers the latest developments in electric vehicles and automotive innovation. His passion for transportation extends beyond cars, he has even flown a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reporting spans everything from classic American muscle cars and rare automotive discoveries to luxury yachts, private aircraft, high-end watches, and cutting-edge vehicle technology. Known for his deep knowledge of automotive history and ability to uncover the stories behind iconic vehicles, Alessandro brings readers a blend of historical context, technical expertise, and first-hand experience.
