London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 02, 2025

Billionaires and celebs are right to fear climate change

Billionaires and celebs are right to fear climate change

Don’t you just hate being preached to about climate change by people who pollute way more than you? To mark the end of COP26, we look at some of the wealthy A-listers who could bear the brunt of the impending doom.

It’ll be obvious when humanity has truly lost the climate change game. You know how?

All those preachy COP26 multi-billionaires and the sermonising celebs who travel in their slipstream will start to sell off their beachfront houses.

Why?

Well, the first places that are gonna be washed away in this creeping Armageddon are those closest to sea level, those super expensive yet garish waterfront properties beloved by your average billionaire and Hollywood star.

Not that you’d ever get to see these places, mind you. They tend to be behind a HUGE wall, with security cameras and heavily armed guards. So don’t go paddling towards any of their gates when the seas rise – just like any self-respecting Bond villain, you’ll only be able to get in by helicopter, private jet, or one of their absurd toy rocket ships.

Oh, and by yacht. Those luxury tubs will come in handy, eh? Just like Noah and his Ark, they’ll be able to drop anchor on a mountain. Cool!

Never mind that all their machines and gadgets and toys spew out toxic gases that are choking our children and grandchildren – the mega-rich are not so worried about that, either, is my guess. When the time comes, their offspring will breathe purified air and they’ll pump out their CO2 for any survivor plebs like the progeny of you and I to enjoy, from a big funnel atop their mountains.

All these billionaire blokes – and it IS mostly men – seem to know how to read a market and therefore turn a profit. You can be damn sure whenever you walk down the street, flick a switch, look at your phone, buy anything, fill your car with petrol, turn on a TV, get online – whatever – one of these guys is getting their slice.

There are, according to Forbes moneybags magazine, almost 3,000 billionaires on planet Earth. Chances are you’ve never actually met one of these people, but it’s a racing certainty at least one of them has had his fat little hand in your pocket today. In fact, every day.

So, here’s a random look at some of the mega-wealthy A-listers with most to fear from the impending implosion. Keep your eye on this crowd, because when they run for the hills, we’re all doomed...

Jeff Bezos


The day that weird, squiff-eyed alien and multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos sells his remote island home on Maui, Hawaii, you know the game’s up, peeps. It cost him $78 million and is very much surrounded by water.

Though he seems to be making plans to depart the Earth back to whichever planet he came from on his own rocket, he pledged $2 billion at the COP26 summit to help save the world. Nice. His Amazon online shopping empire has grown at just about the same rate as the Amazon rainforest has shrunk.

Bezos bounces back and forth between first and second spot on the world’s rich list with Elon Musk and is worth somewhere around $200 billion. So, a couple of billion bucks is bobbins for Bezos really, when you think about it.

READ MORE: Doctor diagnoses elderly woman with a case of ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’

Maybe he shouldn’t invite the next guy on the list around for supper on Maui, though, seeing as his partner Lauren Sanchez seems to be rather besotted with the guy...

Leonardo DiCaprio


OK, OK, he’s not a billionaire. But Hollywood megastar Leo DiCaprio recently splashed out a hefty $13.8 million for a seafront getaway on Malibu. Leo, who is probably the guru of all preachy celebrities, actually once owned three pads beside the California beach beloved by the rich and famous.

He blessed Glasgow with his glowing presence as a United Nations climate change ambassador, and has tried to do his bit to highlight the oncoming doom. Leo even made a speech at the Oscars in 2016 saying climate change was “the most urgent threat facing our entire species.”

Dunno about you, but I’d listen to Leo over climate scientists and their boring data any day.

A whole host of other A-list celebs


It’s not just DiCaprio who faces having his pretty waterfront home washed away: LOADS of celebrities are his neighbours in Malibu. And while not all have been as vocal as Leo on the danger of climate change, you can bet they’ll pack up pretty sharpish when the water levels start rising.

Mel Gibson, Jennifer Aniston, Louis Tomlinson, Charlize Theron, Will Smith, Simon Cowell, Cher, Beyoncé and Jay Z, Barbra Streisand, Pink, Kenny G, Julia Roberts, Kid Rock, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, Dustin Hoffman, Cindy Crawford… the list goes on.

Maybe they could share a raft?

Of course, other coastal destinations are available. Singer Rihanna has a $22 million gaff on Barbados, the Caribbean island where she was born. And there’s even a row of celebrity-owned seaside homes near not-so-sunny Brighton in the UK. Sir Paul McCartney, Adele, Fat Boy Slim, and David Walliams are all occasional neighbours. Though they’ve all yet to be seen together sitting on deckchairs in the rain.

Sir Richard Branson


Like Jeff Bezos, Sir Richard Branson has his own plans for heading into space. And Sir Dick reckons anyone who criticises him for spewing toxic fumes so rich people can go on their jollies a few miles up from sea level is, well, a bit thick.

The founder of Virgin Records/airline/shops/banking etc doesn’t seem to be all that worried about future floods, though. He has long owned the private Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands and has reportedly added a second clump of Mother Earth called Moskito Island to his portfolio.

Necker is also beloved by celebrities, having been graced by the likes of Mariah Carey, Kate Winslet, Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Fallon, and David Beckham. You can rent the entire island for $42,000 a night, or just slum it and rent a villa for $27,000 a week.

A bargain. So long as the seas don’t rise while you’re there. Or you’re hit by a hurricane.

Harry and Meghan


The Duke and Duchess of Sussex – Harry and Meg – don’t quite live on the coast. But they LOVE to preach. Free from the shackles of the British royal family, they now spend their time telling the rest of us how to live.

Prince Harry spoke of his climate change concerns (like most of the royals these days) in the Apple TV+ special called ‘The Me You Can’t See: A Path Forward’.

“With kids growing up in today’s world, pretty depressing, right, depending on where you live, your home country is either on fire, it’s either underwater, houses or forests are being flattened,” Harry said.

“Climate change is really playing a huge part in this as well as social media, and we just don’t – well, I mean, I know lots of people out there are doing as best they can to try and fix these issues – but that whole sort of analogy of walking into the bathroom with a mop when the bath is over-flooding, rather than just turning the tap off…”

Etcetera.

At least they can do their preaching in comfort, for now, in their modest and environmentally sympathetic, nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom $14.65 million home in the town of Montecito, near Santa Barbara on the west coast of the USA. Neighbours include Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ariana Grande, and Natalie Portman.

Montecito is beside the ocean, yet it seems quite hilly really. So maybe the Sussexes won’t need to paddle the 90 minutes home from Los Angeles quite as soon as some other big names.

Elon Musk


Now Elon Musk, the boss of SpaceX and electric car maker Tesla, strikes me as a billionaire with his eye on the ball. He may bounce back and forth for top spot on the rich list with Jeff Bezos, but I reckon Musk can see into the future.

He recently sold off his California property portfolio for $100 million and is now living in a tiny rented $50,000 prefab house near his SpaceX headquarters in Texas.

I wonder if it floats?

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
J.K. Rowling Limits Public Engagements Citing Safety Fears
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
×