Ultra-wealthy people are working remotely from their superyachts and running their businesses from the high seas

• Ultra-wealthy people are using their superyachts as offices to work remotely and broker deals.
• This contrasts with companies like Amazon and Meta, which have rolled out strict RTO policies.

The pandemic fuelled a boom in remote working for many industries and yachting is no exception.

But while many companies are enforcing strict return-to-office mandates, the ultra-wealthy are continuing to embrace remote working from their yachts.

Richard Lambert, head of sales at Burgess Yachts, told Fortune last month that high-net-worth individuals are using their vessels to work from the high seas.

"These are self-made successful business people who need to be able to turn around and actually run their businesses," he said. "We have clients spend up to four months a year on board and be able to actually effectively run their businesses."

As Insider's Tom Porter recently reported, the superrich have the benefit of solidifying their business connections and brokering deals away from the public eye when on board.

The working conditions are far different from those of white collar workers at companies including Amazon, Google and Meta, who have ordered employees to work from the office more often.

Since April 2022, Google has instructed its employees to be present in the office for three days a week, and Amazon adopted a similar policy in February, as did Meta in June. Both Meta and Google are actively tracking employee attendance.

But it's not just billionaires who are working from the seas. Speaking to travel and lifestyle publication Here Magazine using only their first names, married couple Roxy and Phil said they bought a 47-feet sailboat and now work remotely whilst sailing around the world.

"Our expenses are roughly $3,500/month, including our $1,350 boat payment," the couple told Here. "We took out a loan, similar to a mini-mortgage, to buy our sailboat. It's the first piece of 'property' like this we've ever owned."

Living and working on a boat appears to be a growing trend. Research by Rightboat shows that Google searches for "how to live on a boat" have increased by more than 70% in the past year alone.

Burgess Yachts didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours.