Bill Gates has caused quite a bit of debate with his private jet travel.
The Microsoft founder turned climate activist owns no less than four business jets,
which he calls his quote-unquote ‘guilty pleasure’. His collection is worth close
to $200 million and features not one but two Gulfstream G650s. What’s more,
he has just invested billions of dollars in the world’s largest business jet service provider...
The billionaire has written a book called How To Avoid Climate Disaster.
In it, he confesses to being a quote-unquote ‘imperfect messenger’ as he lives in large
houses and travels by private jet. A study conducted by Lund University in Sweden
showed that in 2017, Gates took 59 flights by private jet, emitting about 1,600 tonnes of CO2,
compared to the global average of fewer than five tonnes per person.
Gates has defended his use of the exclusive means of transportation, saying that he offsets his
carbon emissions by buying clean aviation fuel and funding carbon capture. Having bought his first
Bombardier BD-700 Global Express in 1997, Gates says that travel by private jet is his ‘guilty
pleasure’. However, just which aircraft does he own today that is sparking the controversy?
According to Private Jet Charter, the Microsoft founder owns four private jets.
His collection is made up partly of not one but two Gulfstream G650ERs,
which are worth nearly $70 million each. The other two are Bombardier
Challenger 350s, which come in at a, comparatively, mere $27 million apiece.
Gates’ two Gulfstream G650ERs are both under four years old, built in 2018. These replaced his
previous two Bombardier 700 Global Express jets. One is registered as November-8-8-7-WhiskeyMike
and the other as November-1-9-4-WhiskeyMike with a company called Mente LLC. The aircraft
with the WhiskeyMike most likely stands for William and Melinda- the couple met in 1987
and were married in 1994. Unfortunately, the two recently announced their divorce.
The G650 can fit 11 to 18 passengers, and the extended range edition has a maximum reach of
7,500 NM or 13,890 km. The jet holds the fastest and farthest record for a business jet,
flying between Singapore and Tucson, Arizona, in 15 hours and 23 minutes in 2019.
Gates’ Gulfstream VIs have four areas for work, entertainment, and relaxation. Hand-crafted
leather seats turn into beds, and the jet can sleep up to ten people. There are over 400
Gulfstream G650s in service globally. One of them belongs to the wealthiest
man in the world, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Gates’ Bombardier Challenger 350s are
owned through his partnership with NetJets, a company that sells fractional ownership
shares in private business jets. They are registered as November-7-6-9-QuebecSierra
and November-7-5-4-QuebecSierra. The Challenger 350s claim the largest and quietest cabin in its
class and can carry up to ten passengers. It has a maximum range of 3,200 NM or
5,900 km and a top speed of 0.83 Mach. Furthermore, Bill Gates has a Eurocopter EC 135,
which he lands at his floating helipad on Lake Washington. There’s also a small
Cessna 208 Amphibian Caravan seaplane. Early this year, Gates’ company Cascade
Investment agreed to team up with Blackstone and private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners
in a $4.7 billion deal for the world’s largest private jet service company, Signature Aviation.
While mostly using his own jets for work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, investing in
business jet maintenance might be more difficult when justifying overall CO2 contribution.
What do you make of Bill Gates’ private jet collection?
Guilty pleasure or unnecessary emission excess? Leave a comment below and let us know.