While tech moguls such as Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg make waves in Washington, D.C., their floating estates are quietly racking up multi-million-dollar bills at the high-tech yard of La Ciotat Shipyard in southern France. According to industry sources, the servicing tab for these behemoths already exceeds US $30 million.
At the heart of this triangle lies the Mediterranean docking of vessels that are as much statements of wealth and tech-era ambition as they are luxury craft. From Bezos’s 127-metre sailing megayacht to Zuckerberg’s Rumoured 118-metre “Launchpad”, and Ellison’s high-value collector builds, the trio’s platforms demand infrastructure, engineering precision and high-end fit-out attention that only the top yards can deliver.
La Ciotat Shipyard is reputed for its advanced facilities and capacity to handle these ultra-large vessels with full engineering teams, electronics, hull servicing and bespoke upgrades. The servicing bills reflect not just routine maintenance — they also incorporate major systems upgrades, refits of interiors, hull treatments and the logistical cost of keeping these mega-yachts in peak condition. The figure of over US $30 million underscores the operational reality behind the glamour.
Behind these operations is a story of the modern owner-operator: global mobility, year-round deployment, high tech integration and bespoke living environments. The yachts don’t just sit idle over summer holidays; they travel inter-continentally, call into remote regions, and demand readiness on a scale seldom seen in private leisure craft. That intensity of use drives servicing programmes of correspondingly elevated scale.
For each of these owners, the yacht is simultaneously a personal retreat, a networking venue and a technical showcase. The choice of yard like La Ciotat reflects not only their budgets but the requirement for discrete, high-performance support. In their wake, the servicing bills are not mere overhead: they’re a measure of how seriously “floating headquarters” have become for the world’s leading tech captains.
