Montana billionaire's 'superyacht' involved in fatal collision with fishing boat near San Diego

May 2024 · 2 minute read

A 332-foot "superyacht" owned by Montana multi-billionaire Dennis Washington was involved in a fatal collision Friday night off the coast of San Diego, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials.

One person aboard a fishing vessel that collided with Washington's yacht died Saturday morning after being airlifted to the University of California San Diego Medical Center, Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 2nd Class Joel Guzman said Monday.

Two other passengers on the 65-foot sportfisher were injured, Guzman said, but he did not have any additional information on their medical conditions. Fourteen other passengers of the fishing boat were taken back to shore on the Coast Guard boat, and the remaining 10 were transferred to the yacht, named the "Attessa IV."

The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the collision, which was reported to authorities at about 7:50 p.m. by the crew of the yacht. Guzman declined to provided additional details about the circumstances surrounding the crash.

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The collision occurred about 9 miles south of San Diego's Point Loma, just inside the international maritime boundary between the U.S. and Mexico.

It's unclear whether Washington was on board the Attessa at the time. He was not immediately available for comment, according to a spokeswoman at The Washington Companies reached Monday afternoon.

Washington, a longtime Missoula resident, has an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion that ranks him as the 88th-wealthiest American and the richest person in Montana, according to Forbes magazine. The Spokane native launched his career with a small construction company in the 1960s, later branching out into mining, railroads, marine transportation and other industries.

The Washington family has also been active in philanthropy in the state, having given $10 million to the University of Montana Foundation to create the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and Human Sciences. The family's foundation also provided half of the $14 million for construction of the college's athletic training facility.

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