Billionaire David Geffen self-isolates in $590 million luxury yacht, faces backlash

Geffen is worth around $9 billion

David-Geffen-Reuters-Instagram-yacht

Business magnate and movie and music producer David Geffen is indeed rich, and he makes it a point to show it off. 

However, one such act of showing off by the 77-year-old founder of Geffen Records and co-founder of DreamWorks Pictures did not go down well with social media users. Geffen had recently posted a picture of Rising Sun, his 454-foot luxury yacht worth $590 million, with the caption “Sunset last night… isolated in the Grenadines avoiding the virus. I’m hoping everybody is staying safe."

According to media reports, the luxury yacht comes with a gym, wine cellar and theatre. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates Geffen's worth to be around $9 billion.

The show-off of his luxury confinement didn't go down well with social media users who criticised him of his insensitivity. 

Author and columnist Meghan McCain tweeted, " This is just shameful and grotesque," and asked him to "help this country get ventilators." "David Geffen is worth 8 billion dollars! For God's sake help this country get ventilators, our health workers masks and the medical supplies they need! Or no, just stay on your f***ing yacht Instagramming," her tweet read.

"Several days ago, I proposed an “emergency tax” on the uber wealthy in America, which could raise much-needed $ for the jobless millions trapped in US cities with crumbling infrastructure. Thank you David Geffen for sharpening my point," wrote another user.

 

"David Geffen sends a message: You poor plebs can suck it. It's fabulous to be rich. Look at me!," wrote Sven Henrich, founder and lead market strategist at NorthmanTrader.

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In a scathing piece on The Guardian, Hadley Freeman criticised Geffen and the privileged lot who make a show of their self-isolation. "Geffen is not the only one doing this. He is a billionaire, so his version of glamorous social distancing is billionaire-sized, but a quick, faintly nauseating glance through Instagram will show that he is far from alone in attempting to create Instagrammable isolation," she wrote.

While Geffen hasn't reacted to the criticism, his account has been made private, say media reports.

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