We can all agree that meeting high-profile personalities like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk on a commercial flight is pretty unlikely, even if you’re flying first class. The reason for that is simple: These people can fly on their own business jet. For some of them, we should use the plural – jets.

Among the high-profile personalities who own a fleet of private jets is Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Although Gates is an advocate of climate change and a climate activist himself, he once stated that private jets are his “guilty pleasure” – a pretty expensive one, given that his fleet of business jets has an estimated value of $200 million. On top of that, the climate activist paradoxically owns a private aviation management firm and has invested billions in the world’s largest private jet service provider.

If the father of Microsoft were a member of any airline’s frequent flyer program, he would definitely be the most valued. Why? In 2022, he reportedly took 392 flights on his private jets, an average of more than one daily. According to the latest publicly available information, Bill Gates owns four business jets: two Gulfstream G650ERs, estimated to cost $70 million each, and two Bombardier Challenger 350s, priced at $27 million each.

Bill Gates’ fleet of Gulfstream G650ERs

Bill Gates has chosen the Gulfstream 650ER for his air travels around the globe. To be more precise, the founder of Microsoft owns not just one but two aircraft of this type.

One of the G650ERs is registered N887WM, and the other is N194WM. Both aircraft are registered under the company MENTE LLC in Washington State. The two final letters, WM, in the two aircraft’s registrations most likely stand for William and Melinda. The couple met in 1987 and was married for 27 years starting in 1994. Both aircraft were built in 2018, and their technical specifics are illustrated in the table below:

Technical Specific
Value

Maximum Range
7,500 NM (13,890 km)

High-Speed Cruise
Mach 0.90

Maximum Cruise Altitude
51,000 ft (15,545 m)

Maximum Take-off Weight
103,600 lb (46,992 kg)

Engines
Two Rolls-Royce BR725

Take-off Thrust
16,900 lb (75.20 kN)

Cabin Height
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)

Cabin width
8 ft 2 in (2.49 m)

Cabin Length
46 ft 10 in (14.27 m)

Aircraft Height
25 ft 8 in (7.82 m)

Aircraft Length
99 ft 9 in (30.40 m)

Overall Wingspan
99 ft 7 in (30.35 m)

Photo: Gulfstream

With more than 500 aircraft of this type currently active worldwide, the Gulfstream G650 is considered to be one of the industry’s most trusted business jets. This private jet holds the record for the farthest and fastest flight in the business aviation sector, earned when, in 2019, it flew between Singapore and Tucson, Arizona, in 15 hours and 23 minutes. If we consider London Heathrow (LHR), the hypothetical departure airport, the Gulfstream G650ER can reach virtually any airport worldwide except most of the South Pacific Ocean.

Photo: GCMaps

According to a previous report by Simple Flying, N194WM seems to have been sold and is now registered with TVPX Aircraft Solutions in Utah. This company provides trust services to allow US-based aircraft registrations for purchasers not eligible to register an aircraft in the US. Therefore, it remains unknown who the end user of the aircraft is.

Luxury at its finest

According to many, Gulfstream is the Rolls-Royce of the skies. Indeed, the level of luxury onboard a Gulfstream is unparalleled.

The Gulfstream G650ER can offer up to three living areas, accommodate a maximum of 19 passengers, and sleep up to ten guests. Each customer is allowed to design the interiors based on their personal preferences. All divans and single seats can be converted to beds, while 16 panoramic oval windows, the largest in the industry, allow a large amount of natural light to flow into the cabin.

To further enhance comfort, Gulfstream’s clean air systems deliver 100% fresh air every two to three minutes. Additionally, the air-ionizing technology neutralizes allergens and viruses. All these features make this private jet widely popular among high-profile personalities. Other VIPs flying worldwide on the Gulfstream G650ER include Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, and Kim Kardashian.

The Bombardiers (and more)

Bill Gates’ other two business jets, the Bombardier Challenger 350s, are indirectly owned through a partnership with NetJets, the largest provider of fractional ownership shares in private jets.

N769QS was manufactured in 2015, while N754QS in 2017. The main specifics of this aircraft are illustrated in the table below:

Technical Specific
Value

Maximum Range
3,200 NM (5,926 km)

High-Speed Cruise
Mach 0.83

Maximum Cruise Altitude
45,000 ft (13,716 m)

Maximum Take-off Weight
40,600 lb (18,415kg)

Engines
Two Honeywell HTF7350 turbofans

Take-off Thrust
7,323 lb (33 kN)

Cabin Height
6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)

Cabin width
7 ft 2 in (2.19 m)

Cabin Length
25 ft 2 in (7.68 m)

Aircraft Height
20 ft 0 in (6 m)

Aircraft Length
68 ft 8 in (20.97 m)

Overall Wingspan
69 ft 0 in (21.03 m)

According to the manufacturer, the Challenger 350 is the best-selling business jet among top corporate flight departments and charter operators worldwide. The aircraft offers the largest and quietest cabin in its class and has a maximum capacity of ten passengers.

Photo: Bombardier

Last, Bill Gates recently updated a small propeller plane to a Cessna 208 Amphibian Caravan seaplane, registered N897WM under MENTE LLC. As if this wasn’t enough, Gates’ MENTE LLC also owns two helicopters: a 2007 Eurocopter EC 135, registered N608WM, reportedly used to travel around Lake Washington, and a 2021 Airbus Helicopter MBB-BK117, registered N-621WM.

Bill Gates’ passion for private jets explains the $4.7 billion deal between Gates’ Cascade Investment, Blackstone, and private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners to develop the world’s largest private jet service company, Signature Aviation, which provides maintenance services to business jets.