Kaban ni D_BystandeR: GIPALABI NI BILL GATES ANG KAAYUHAN SA KALIBOTAN KAYSA KA KAUGALINGONG PABAWNAN???

These days, Microsoft founder Bill Gates is more concerned with helping to save the world than creating the next big gadget. But when the world's richest man goes on vacation, he does it like no one else. The New York Daily News captured some photos of Gates aboard "The Serene," a $300M dollar yacht that Gates  and his family are renting for $5M per week.  In addition to its 12 staterooms, the 450-foot, seven deck vessel also comes equipped with  its own saltwater pool, climbing wall, library, health spa, outdoor theater and even a nightclub spread out over the boat's combined 48,000 square feet. Though for all his wealth and  influence, Gates doesn't actually own "The  Serene." He's renting it from Stolichnaya vodka distributor Yuri Scheffler. The Russia-born Scheffler is an interesting figure himself, famous for battling with Russian President  Vladimir Putin, who tried to nationalize and  redistribute" Stolichnaya's wealth. According to Business Insider Serene is the third most  expensive yacht in the world. You can check out a video of the yacht during a recent visit to California in 2012 that was taken by a  fellow, overwhelmed boater.  Though he does not own a yacht himself, Gates seems  to be a fan of them. In 1994, he married about a yacht belonging to his fellow Microsoft  co-founder Paul Allen. Allen famously bought his own mega yacht a few years ago for  $200M, the Octopus.

Still, even if Gates doesn't own his own yacht, his choice of vacation rentals certainly trumps that of Bill and Hillary Clinton who were in the spotlight on Friday after it was revealed they were renting an $18M Hamptons estate for about $30,000 per week. According to the  Daily News, Gates and his family regularly make use of the Serene's on board helicopter to travel for tennis matches at the "billionaire's "playground" of nearby Porto Cervo, while the boat is  stationed off the coast of Sardinia. And like Allen's yacht, the Serene also come with its own submarine. All in all, not a bad way to spend a few weeks before getting back to reinventing the toilet.

Footnote: This appeared in Yahoo News headline, "I'm on a boat: Bill Gates vacations on $300M yacht," by Eric Pfeiffer - 08/09/14.