By Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
Out on the water near Alaska, when trouble calls, boats answer. That's the code — and according to one passenger's account, Mark Zuckerberg's mega-yacht broke it.
NBC News reports that when a small boat in Alaskan waters sent out a call for help, the Meta CEO's cruiser — described as the closest vessel to the emergency — did not respond. It was another boat's captain who ultimately came to the rescue, and that captain didn't stay quiet about who hadn't.
"There was near unanimous booing," one passenger aboard the responding boat told NBC News, describing the reaction when the captain announced over the radio that Zuckerberg's yacht had been nearer to the distressed boat and had failed to reply. We have not independently verified that this quote was given directly to NBC rather than relayed through another party, and we are treating it as NBC has published it.
This account rests on a single passenger's description of the incident, relayed via NBC News; The American Times could not independently confirm the yacht's proximity to the distress call, whether Zuckerberg was aboard, or the nature of the emergency.
The exact circumstances — the nature of the emergency, whether anyone aboard the small boat was hurt, and whether Zuckerberg himself was aboard the superyacht at the time — were not detailed in the available reporting, and this paper is not going to fill in those blanks with guesswork. What's confirmed is the account from a passenger who was there and the fact that the rescue fell to someone else's boat.
It is not clear from the available reporting whether NBC News sought comment from Meta or Zuckerberg's representatives before publishing, or whether none was requested. Meta has not been quoted responding to the incident in the material available to us. Should a statement from Zuckerberg's camp surface, we'll bring it to you straight — no spin, no filler.
Out on open water, reputation travels fast. So, apparently, does booing.
If I can't source it, you won't read it here. — Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
— Compiled from reporting by NBC News.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."