> He might be a money-flashing, wealth-displaying rich asshole. But I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
So you're willing to to give him the benefit of the doubt that there's a chance he needs to impress other wealth-displaying rich assholes like your friend's colleagues? This is almost a worse reason than him just wanting the absurd boat in the first place.
Nothing to do with "blame", or being an asshole. At some point we just can't let these people keep gobbling up resources like there's no tomorrow. Doesn't matter how much money they have. That doesn't buy them any special rights.
Perhaps I'm being too picky here, but he remained way below the Kármán line...
Do you really think there is any person or entity that Amazon does business with, that will do significantly more because he has rockets and yachts?
Bezos appears to want to do things that are not original, simply because other billionaires do them. The very essence of status symbolism.
Lots of people hate Elon Musk, and I'm hardly a fan, but wanting to make science fiction real seems to me easier to respect and accept. He wants to go to Mars because he genuinely wants to do it.
Well, not always. And sometimes many stone-cold, rational people flash money. Just to improve business.
A friend of mine was perfectly happy with his shit of a car even though he could afford something much better.
Then he started a business. A business that involved communicating and meeting with people very outside of our tech or liberal/vegan/minimalist/generic-dominant-fad bubbles.
These people cared about the car he drove. They did not want to be seen or meeeting or seen with someone with a shitty car or using a cab. Perception mattered, and business was hurt.
Then, that friend bought a BMW just to drive it to meetings. He also keeps his old car and drives for personal use.
There might be some people, important to Bezos's business that care about where they meet with him. Bezos wants it to be a yatch.
Can't blame him without more information.
He might be a money-flashing, wealth-displaying rich asshole. But I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.