Teen who tracked Elon Musk’s jet is chasing Russian tycoons

Jack Sweeney is doing to Russian oligarchs what he did to Elon Musk. 

After soaring to internet fame — and drawing the ire of the world’s richest person — with his viral Twitter account “Elon’s Jet”, Sweeney is tracking the planes of some of Russia’s richest people as they come under increasing international pressure over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

While the 19-year-old is hardly the only person to offer such services, what makes Sweeney’s accounts unique is their easy accessibility and the enticing window they offer into the lives of today’s billionaires. Colby Howard, the president of Paragon Intel — which provides corporate aviation intelligence through its product JetTrack — told Bloomberg Sweeney’s Twitter accounts are the “People Magazine version” of corporate aviation intelligence.

“People are obsessed with wealth more than ever. It’s almost a form of paparazzi. That’s why this is popular,” Howard said.

Sweeney said he started the accounts after receiving many requests to track the aircraft of Russia’s oligarchs. Using a list of planes tracked by a blog called “Radar Spots”, the teen was able to quickly set up yet another Twitter account. It’s garnered more than 53,000 followers in days.

“The aircraft these oligarchs have are absolutely crazy,” Sweeney told Bloomberg, noting Russia’s richest were travelling on commercial-sized aircraft such as an Airbus A319 and Boeing 737.

“Their planes are huge compared to other jets.”

The Russian Oligarch Jets account tracks aircraft from helicopters to private jets and commercial-sized aeroplanes, including Vladimir Potanin, who is Russia’s richest person,  Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich and steel billionaire Alexander Abramov.

While it may be fascinating for the average person to see where Russian oligarchs are jetting to next, Paragon’s Howard said it doesn’t include information to contextualise the flights — like who may be on the flights or the historical significance of the movement and other information needed by intelligence officers or investors to make critical decisions.

“One jet flying through Miami holding who knows who doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t tell you what information matters and what context you need to make a decision.”

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