Yachts of this kind are allowed by law to carry no more than 12 passengers. One owner said there is an element, let's be honest here, of phallic sizing. The length of the boat becomes this critical factor in the overall luxury of the thing. And so you can have anywhere between 12 and 50 crew members looking after those 12 guests.
Bloomberg's Stephanie Baker and the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos explain the fight to seize (and maintain) billionaire boats.
This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices