Superyachts are already a blight on the environment, but one billionaire has taken the polluting impact of his vessel to another level — even in the interest of reducing ocean waste.

A Reddit post shared with the r/LostGeneration community is drawing heated reactions for spotlighting a casually wasteful habit from one of the richest men alive, Larry Ellison.

Not wanting to pollute the ocean, Larry Ellison employs a man who follows his $160 million superyacht in a speedboat. This person's sole job is to retrieve the basketballs that go overboard while the eccentric centibillionaire unwinds by shooting hoops on his vessel's court.
byu/foxtrot666 inlostgeneration

It passes on an article from Luxury Launches, which said: "Not wanting to pollute the ocean, Larry Ellison employs a man who follows his $160 million superyacht in a speedboat."

As the article explained, the Oracle founder enjoys shooting hoops on his 288-foot superyacht, Musashi. 

But Ellison doesn't let missed shots float away. Instead, the staff member follows behind to fish out the stray basketballs from the water so the game can go on — to avoid polluting the ocean with plastic balls.

This might seem like a quirky footnote about a billionaire's lifestyle, but it highlights a bigger issue: excess disguised as eco-consciousness. 

Burning fuel to chase after floating sports equipment isn't exactly what people mean when they talk about helping the environment. While Ellison may be keeping plastic out of the water, the planet-warming pollution the smaller boat produces during this chase likely does more harm than any single lost basketball ever could.

Luxury lifestyles like these quietly normalize pollution-heavy behaviors. According to Oxfam, in a year, an ultrarich European on a yacht can produce as much carbon pollution as an ordinary European would in 585 years. This significantly harms people and ecosystems alike.

It's not hard to imagine a better use of all that cash and energy. Groups like Oceana and Coral Gardeners are working to clean oceans and protect marine life without needing a retrieval boat in tow. And electric boats, like those from Arc or Candela, offer cleaner, quieter ways to enjoy the water.

Shooting hoops is harmless fun. But when it takes a support crew and a chase boat, it might be time to rethink the game plan.

One commenter said: "The lack of self-awareness is astounding."

Another added: "Being self-aware has nothing to do with being altruistic. Some of the biggest jerks on the planet are very self-aware, they just don't feel any need to care."

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