Teen who tracks Musk’s jet says he’s now found Zuckerberg’s aircraft

‘We’ve found Mark Zuckerberg’s jet N68885. Numerous trips point it being his’

Vishwam Sankaran
Thursday 19 May 2022 09:09 BST
Comments
Teen tracking Elon Musk’s private jet now going after Russian aircraft

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Jack Sweeney, the 19-year-old tracking Tesla chief Elon Musk’s personal jet, said he has rediscovered Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg’s aircraft.

Mr Sweeney shared a picture of the jet on his Twitter account.

The teenager was already tracking an aircraft he believed was the Facebook founder’s private jet, by sharing updates on the Twitter handle @ZuccJet. But he said in April that the jet “was no longer being used by Mr Zuckerberg”.

Now, Mr Sweeney said he has been able to draw a correlation between the latest jet’s travel history and Mr Zuckerberg’s trips.

“Well jackpot [Zucc Jet] should be completely accurate now. We’ve found Mark Zuckerberg’s jet N68885. Numerous trips point it being his,” he tweeted.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.

The company had noted in its latest regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it began chartering a new private jet for Mr Zuckerberg in March.

“Since March 2022, we charter a private aircraft that is indirectly and wholly owned by Mr Zuckerberg and operated by an independent charter company for business and personal travel by Mr Zuckerberg,” the filing noted.

“On certain occasions, Mr Zuckerberg may be accompanied by guests when using such aircraft, and certain of our other personnel may also use such aircraft for business travel,” it added.

In the filing, Meta said its security team had identified several threats to Mr Zuckerberg and other directors.

“We believe that Mr Zuckerberg’s role puts him in a unique position: he is synonymous with Meta and, as a result, negative sentiment regarding our company is directly associated with, and often transferred to, Mr Zuckerberg,” the filing said.

“Under Mr Zuckerberg’s overall security programme, we pay for costs related to personal security for Mr Zuckerberg at his residences and during personal travel, including the annual costs of security personnel for his protection and the procurement, installation, and maintenance of certain security measures for his residences,” it added.

The teenager is not just tracking planes belonging to Mr Musk and Mr Zuckerberg.

Earlier this year, he said he created a Twitter account called “Russian Oligarch Jets”, which he said tracks the helicopters, private jets and commercial aeroplanes of some of Russia‘s wealthiest businessmen.

Mr Sweeney grabbed international attention after the Tesla chief offered to pay him $5,000 (£3,700) to shut down his account tracking his flights, calling it a “security risk”.

The teenager, however, countered the billionaire’s offer and asked for $50,000 instead, which was reportedly declined by Mr Musk.

A report by The European Federation for Transport and Environment has suggested that the carbon footprint of global aviation is mainly driven by a small group of the planet’s population.

It said only 1 per cent of people cause nearly 50 per cent of global aviation emissions with an outsized role played by the world’s ultra rich.

Many Twitter users have praised the teenager’s efforts to shed light on the daily habits of the world’s tech billionaires.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in