Jeff Bezos' $500M Megayacht Koru Boasts a Spectacular Figurehead. Now We Know What It Is

As of last summer, Jeff Bezos is the official direct beneficiary (i.e., owner) of Koru, the world's largest and most expensive sailing yacht – a megayacht based on size alone. Koru, a word that means "new beginnings" in Maori, is a technical and naval masterpiece, but it's also been turned into a controversial symbol of what's wrong with our society, financial inequality in particular.

Also as of last summer, there's been a lot of talk about one particular feature on Koru, the spectacular if a tad tacky figurehead at the bow, which many believe is a direct but slightly artsy interpretation of Bezos' fiancee Lauren Sanchez. We now finally have an explanation for the figurehead, and it's quite a surprising one.

A goddess to lead the way

The first photos of the Koru figurehead came via spy photos long before the official delivery event. Even then, it was known from previous reporting that Bezos was the owner who had commissioned the vessel, and given the resemblance between the figurehead and Sanchez, it wasn't too much of a leap to put 2 and 2 together and assume a direct connection.

With the megayacht's maiden voyage came the first proper look at the woman at the bow: a giant sculpture out of a single block of polished wood showing a voluptuous woman. She was fully clothed but didn't look like it and wore a necklace of the koru coil and a cloak that ended in feathers.

Even established trade publications decided that the woman resembled Sanchez too much not to be based on her likeness, so it was more or less unanimously decided that she WAS the figurehead. Koru, it was said, was the biggest love letter and the biggest flex of modern times, besides being a naval masterpiece.

Except that it's not – or not entirely. Lauren Sanchez sat down with Vogue magazine for an interview and what could be described as a joint engagement spread with Bezos, and she laughed off the idea that she's at the bow of Koru. If that figurehead had been her, it would have had bigger breasts, she says with no attempt at feigned modesty.

The woman is Freyja, "The Lady" in Old Norse, who also goes by Gefn, Hörn, Mardöll, Sýr, Vanadís, and Valfreyja. She's a goddess associated with fertility, love, beauty, and the power of seeing into and influencing the future. She's also associated with gold and war, so she brings fortune in all aspects of life, and she rides a chariot pulled by cats and wears a special necklace and a cloak that ends in falcon feathers.

Sanchez says that Freyja is Bezos' favorite mythological figure, which explains her presence on his custom vessel. She also says she's "flattered" by reports she could have served as muse, but she doesn't address the obvious physical resemblance between herself and the sculpture.

Koru, more than a flex

Koru isn't just a record breaker for size and cost but also one of the most outstanding builds of recent years. Reportedly based on the 2018 sail-assisted megayacht the Black Pearl, whom Bezos saw and instantly fell in love with, it's a three-masted schooner perfectly capable of sailing on wind power only – which the Pearl can't.

Koru is 127 meters (417 feet) in length and features a gleaming black hull with a white superstructure, which makes it instantly recognizable. Where that fails, its three gigantic masts for which shipyard Oceanco wanted to temporarily dismantle a historic bridge in Rotterdam will do that.

That was the vessel's first brush with controversy, as the residents of the city rallied in protest, threatening to egg the megayacht if the council granted Oceanco the request. No concessions for billionaires, especially with historical buildings, they said.

As of this writing, Koru is the world's biggest sailing yacht, the most expensive thanks to its reported cost of $500 million, the biggest vessel built in the Netherlands, and the megayacht with the biggest shadow vessel. Abeona is a utilitarian-styled superyacht built by Damen Yachting, a custom vessel designed to carry Koru's toys, extra staff, guests, and gear.

But according to Sanchez, Koru is more than the sum of records: it's part of Bezos' commitment to environmental issues, which has become her pledge as well, through the recently-founded $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund.

"I think Jeff and I really are focusing on the long-term commitment to climate, and we’re extremely optimistic about it. Ten billion is just the beginning," Sanchez explains.

Before anyone accuses her of being an eco-hypocrite for her huge carbon footprint that comes with being a globetrotter, Sanchez points out her use of green aviation fuel (whenever possible) and Koru, which can sail without fuel. "We've done it and it is magical," she promises.

Normies wash their cans for recycling, billionaires commission multi-million sailing yachts.