People that own a private jet have to be millionaires. According to Stratosjets, to afford a private jet, the annual household income is most likely of at least seven figures. The minimum net worth of private aviation customers is usually around $25 million, which most people don’t see in their lives.

How much did famous celebrities spend in 2020 on private jets?

In that sense, the rich and famous have recently been in the public eye for their lavish activities involving private flying. Last year, Jack Sweeney’s Twitter accounts @CelebJets, @ElonJet, and @JxckSweeney tracked the use of private planes until Twitter, under the management of Elon Musk, decided to suspend the accounts.

But this is not a recount of the work of Jack Sweeney. Instead, it is an article updating which individuals spend the most on private air travel. Nonetheless, following the backlash on Sweeney’s activities, celebrities using and owning private jets have become a bit more reserved about their activities, making it more difficult now to have accurate numbers about the figures they spend flying around privately.

In 2020, Simple Flying first published Stratos Jet Charters list of the 20 biggest spenders on private jet travel. This was that year’s list:

1. Donald Trump – $9,250,000, Air Force One (Boeing 747-200B)
2. Vladimir Putin – $5,300,000, IL-96-300PU
3. Angela Merkel – $4,600,000, Airbus A340-313X VIP
4. President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev – $4,460,000, Airbus A330-243 Prestige
5. Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, $4,260,000, Airbus A340-212
6. Prince Al-Waleed of Saudi Arabia – $3,860,000, Boeing 747-400
7. Roman Abramovich – $3,580,000, Boeing 767-33AER (Owned)
8. Boris Johnson – $2,700,000, Airbus A330
9. John Travolta – $2,250,000, Boeing 707 (Owned)
10. Kylie Jenner – $1,450,000, Bombardier Global 7500 (Owned)
11. Beyonce and Jay Z – $1,385,000, Challenger 850 Learjet (Owned)
12. Mark Cuban – $1,250,000, Boeing 767 (Owned)
13. Prince Albert II of Monaco – $1,140,000, Dassault Falcon 7X
14. Jim Carrey – $1,050,000, Gulfstream V (Owned)
15. Taylor Swift – $985,000, Falcon 900 (Owned)
16. Celine Dion – $970,000, Bombardier BD 700 Global Express (Owned)
17. Tom Cruise – $950,000, Gulfstream IV-SP (Owned)
18. Oprah Winfrey – $950,000, Bombardier Global Express XRS (Owned)
19. David Beckham – $870,000, Bombardier Challenger 350 (Owned)
20. Kim K – $730,000, Mid-size jet

Things have changed since that year. First, Donald Trump is no longer the US president, so no longer employs the Air Force One. Instead, he flies around on his Boeing 757-200, better known as the Trump Force One.

The new big spenders

The list has changed quite a bit in recent years, although most of the names published in 2020 continue in some way or another now. Because we could not find how much the famous spend annually on their planes, we instead shifted the list to how much their planes are worth as of 2022 and 2023.

South China Morning Post reported that the Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal was supposed to be the largest spender on a private aircraft by acquiring a private Airbus A380 (the prince already has a private Boeing 747). The plane had an approximate cost of $500 million. However, most recent reports point out that the deal fell through.

So this is the list:

1. Alisher Umanov: Airbus A340-300 - $400 million.
2. Joseph Lau: Boeing 747-8 VIP - $367 million
3. Sultan of Brunei: Boeing 747-430, also known as the The Flying Palace - $230 million
4. Roman Abramovich: Boeing 757 - $170 million
5. Kim Kardashian: Gulfstream G650ER, also known as Kim Air - $150 million.
6. Donald Trump: Boeing 757 - $100 million
7. Richard Branson: Dassault Falcon 50EX; and Oprah Winfrey: Gulfstream GH50 - $75 million each.
8. Mukesh Ambani: Boeing Business Jet 2 - $73 million.
9. Elon Musk; Jeff Bezos; Sergey Brin; Larry Page: Gulfstream G650 ER: $70 million each.
10. Bill Gates: Bombardier 8000 - $66 million
11. Jay-Z: Bombardier Challenger 850 - $40 million.

Are you interested in private jets and want to know more about it? How about a short guide on how to charter a private jet? Read it here.

A breakdown of the top 10 celebrity CO2 offenders

Nowadays, people are also getting increasingly worried and critical about private aviation’s environmental impact. Last year, Yard published a list of the celebrities with the worst private jet CO2 emissions. Yard said,

“The real trouble with air travel is those flying privately. Private jets have a disproportionate impact on the environment. Private jets are the worst offenders for emissions per passenger. It’s a particularly popular form of travel among celebrities, who often opt for incredibly short-haul flights instead of choosing a more environmentally friendly alternative.”

The study was criticized due to some methodology doubts. Nonetheless, here are the top 10 celebrity CO2 offenders.

1. Taylor Swift. When the study was published, the pop princess’ total flight emissions were at 8,293.54 tonnes. That’s about 1,184.8 times more than the average person’s total annual emissions.
2. Floyd Mayweather. 7,076.8 tonnes of CO2 from his private jet.
3. Jay-Z. 6,981.3 tonnes of CO2.
4. A-Rod. 5,342.7 tonnes of CO2.
5. Blake Shelton. 4,495 tonnes of CO2.
6. Steven Spielberg. 4,465 tonnes of CO2.
7. Kim Kardashian. 4,268.5 tonnes of CO2.
8. Mark Wahlberg. 3,772 tonnes of CO2.
9. Oprah Winfrey. 3,493.17 tonnes of CO2
10. Travis Scott. 3,033.3 tonnes of CO2.

So far, Yard has not made an update of this study in 2023.

The Greenpeace study

This year, Greenpeace released a study criticizing the hundreds of ultra-short private jet flights employed to reach Davos as global leaders joined the World Economic Forum.

During the World Economic Forum in 2022 (between May 22 and 26), 1,040 private jet flights arrived and departed from airports serving the Swiss luxury ski resort Davos. Of this total, 53% were short-haul flights below 750 kilometers, with one even being only 21 kilometers. Klara Maria Schenk, transport campaigner for Greenpeace’s European mobility campaign, said,

“Private jets must be consigned to history if we are to have a green, just and safe future for all. It’s about time our political leaders start to lead by example instead of producing hot air in secret meetings with big business.”

What do you think about this list? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: We Are Yard, Stratos Jet Charters, South China Morning Post.