Eric Schmidt just broke records—493 flights, over 612,000 miles in the air, and roughly 7,100 metric tons of CO2 emissions in a single year. The former Google CEO isn’t alone. Around him sits a growing list of billionaires, entertainers, and business titans who treat private aviation like most people treat cars.
The celebrity jet leaderboard reveals something stark: the ultra-wealthy operate in a completely different world when it comes to transportation. While average people worry about gas prices, the world’s richest are burning through fuel at rates that would make environmental advocates cringe.
How the Leaderboard Actually Works
The story behind tracking celebrity flights starts with technology most people don’t even know exists. Every aircraft in the sky broadcasts its location, altitude, and speed every single second. This ADSB system—Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast—was created for air traffic safety, not celebrity gossip.
Think of it like this: planes constantly send out radio signals on public frequencies. Anyone with a basic receiver can pick up this data. Flight tracking websites like FlightRadar24 and ADSB Exchange collect these broadcasts through networks of ground-based receivers scattered across the country. The information is completely legal and publicly available.
The real detective work happens when trackers connect tail numbers (aircraft registration codes) to specific celebrities. Wealthy individuals often hide ownership behind shell companies and trusts, making the connection harder. That’s where social media posts, paparazzi photos, and media reports come in handy. Jack Sweeney, a college student who became famous for running automated tracking accounts, pioneered this approach. His ElonJet account gained hundreds of thousands of followers before Elon Musk banned it from X.
The technology can’t actually tell you who’s on the plane. When a celebrity’s jet flies, they might be onboard, or they might have loaned it to family or staff. That ambiguity creates real problems for the accuracy of these rankings.
The 2024 Rankings Tell a Different Story
Schmidt’s dominance wasn’t surprising to those following the data, but the overall leaderboard shifted dramatically from previous years. Elon Musk came in second with 320 flights and 461,000 miles. Kim Kardashian rounded out the top three with 236 flights and 240,000 miles traveled.
What caught people off-guard was who else appeared in the rankings. Judge Judy made the list at 36th place. Dr. Phil landed at 27th. These names sparked conversations on Reddit and Twitter about who actually flies the most privately.
Travis Scott racked up 293 flights while Jay-Z flew 291 times, covering 286,000 miles. Country singer Luke Bryan surprised observers by claiming a spot in the top ten with 650 flights—nearly two per day. That’s extreme even by celebrity standards, but it correlates directly with his touring schedule across multiple continents.
Taylor Swift’s situation is interesting. After facing intense criticism in 2022 for topping the leaderboard with 170 flights, she dropped to 44th place in 2024 with just 80 flights. Her team explained she chartered multiple aircraft during her Eras Tour, which these rankings don’t capture. Charter flights use different tail numbers on each trip, making consistent tracking nearly impossible.
Why These Numbers Matter More Than You’d Think
The emissions numbers transform abstract flight data into something people actually understand. Eric Schmidt’s jets alone produced enough CO2 in one year to equal what roughly 1,650 average people produce annually. Each hour of his private jet flight emitted more carbon than the average person generates in an entire year.
Private jets produce 5 to 14 times more emissions per passenger than commercial flights. A Boeing 737 carrying 180 passengers emits about 90 kilograms of CO2 per passenger per hour. A Gulfstream G650 carrying the same number of people would emit 250 kilograms per passenger per hour. But these jets rarely fly at capacity. When someone flies solo or with one or two companions, per-passenger emissions skyrocket to 10 or 20 times what commercial aviation produces.
The problem gets worse when you look at short flights. Kylie Jenner faced backlash in 2022 for a 17-minute flight that could’ve been a 40-minute drive. Drake took three flights under 20 minutes within a single month. When convenience trumps necessity, it signals something uncomfortable about wealth inequality.
The Environmental Impact Nobody’s Ignoring
Private aviation represents a small fraction of overall air travel—roughly 26,000 jets worldwide. Yet these aircraft collectively emitted about 15.6 million metric tons of CO2 in 2023. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions produced by 3.7 million cars or the entire country of Tanzania.
Put differently: each hour of private jet flight can produce more carbon than an average person generates in a year. Climate scientists warn this trend undermines global efforts to reduce emissions. When someone flies for one hour to attend a sporting event and emits what 365 days of average living produces, it sends a message about who bears responsibility for climate action.
The disparity becomes especially obvious when comparing private jets to commercial alternatives. Newer commercial aircraft like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 use significantly less fuel per passenger mile than private aviation. Commercial carriers constantly improve efficiency. Private jet technology hasn’t seen comparable advances because owners prioritize comfort and speed over fuel consumption.
Why Celebrities Fly This Much
Understanding the numbers requires understanding celebrity schedules. Luke Bryan’s 650 flights correlate directly with performing multiple shows per week across vast distances. Country music touring demands constant movement between cities. When you’re hitting 300 different venues annually, the flight count adds up fast.
Eric Schmidt’s business travel reflects his role as a tech investor and consultant with interests worldwide. Board meetings, investment opportunities, and strategic decisions happen across multiple continents. For high-level executives, the cost of private aviation gets justified by time saved and business value generated.
Kim Kardashian juggles reality TV filming, business ventures, legal studies, and family obligations spread across different states. Her jet functions as a mobile office where she handles work between locations without losing productive hours. The financial math works differently when your time generates millions per hour.
That said, not every flight serves legitimate purposes. Short maintenance repositioning flights move jets between airports without passengers. Some ultra-short trips simply reflect convenience over necessity. There’s a difference between business travel and flying 10 minutes instead of driving 30.
The Jack Sweeney Story and What Came After
A college student named Jack Sweeney became the face of jet tracking in 2022 when he started posting Elon Musk’s flight data in real time. Musk offered him $5,000 to stop. Sweeney countered with a $50,000 request. When Musk bought Twitter, he initially allowed the account, citing free speech support. Within weeks, he banned it permanently.
Musk claimed real-time location tracking enabled stalkers and posed genuine safety risks. Taylor Swift’s legal team sent cease-and-desist letters in early 2024, arguing the tracking constituted stalking and harassment that created serious safety concerns. Swift’s lawyers maintained no legitimate public interest justifies publishing her travel information.
Sweeney maintained that his data came from publicly available sources mandated by the FAA for air traffic safety. He argued jet tracking serves journalistic purposes, revealing carbon footprints, business dealings, and whether public figures practice what they preach on climate issues.
Meta suspended Sweeney’s accounts in October 2024 without prior warning, citing privacy policy violations and risk of physical harm. X maintained its ban. The moves shifted conversation toward delayed tracking—posting flight information 24 hours after flights occur. This approach balances accountability with reduced immediate safety risks.
Privacy Versus Public Accountability
The tracking controversy pits legitimate security concerns against transparency needs. Celebrities rightfully worry that publishing movements in real time creates genuine danger. Stalkers and overzealous fans could use flight data to locate them.
Transparency advocates counter that ultra-wealthy individuals shouldn’t enjoy anonymity while contributing disproportionately to climate change. If public figures advocate for environmental responsibility, their personal behavior deserves scrutiny. Flight data has exposed corporate executives’ secret meetings and politicians’ undisclosed trips that contradicted public statements.
The legal concept of “public figure” matters here. Courts generally grant celebrities less privacy protection because they profit from public attention. Someone maintaining active social media presence promoting their lifestyle can’t credibly claim total privacy about travel.
There’s middle ground worth considering. Delayed tracking maintains accountability while reducing immediate safety risks. Several tracking accounts have adopted this voluntarily.
What Changes Are Coming
The 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act allows private aircraft owners to anonymize their registration information. Previously anyone could look up a tail number and find ownership details. Now owners can request that data be hidden from public FAA databases.
This change won’t stop flight tracking entirely. ADSB broadcasts continue regardless of registration privacy. Trackers can still see where aircraft fly. They’ll face more difficulty confirming specific ownership, but once a tail number gets linked to a celebrity through other means, that association becomes public knowledge.
Some celebrities are switching to charter services specifically to avoid tracking. When you don’t own the jet, your name never appears in any database. Charter companies maintain strict confidentiality about clients, unlike tail number registrations that remain inherently public.
The Bigger Picture
The celebrity jet leaderboard isn’t just about who flies the most. It’s a window into how the ultra-wealthy live differently—faster, with more convenience, and with a carbon footprint that dwarfs average people’s impact. Whether that data gets tracked, banned, or delayed remains contentious.
What’s certain is this: as climate awareness grows and wealth inequality gets harder to ignore, private aviation becomes increasingly difficult to defend. The rankings will keep changing, the trackers will keep adapting, and the conversation about accountability won’t disappear anytime soon.
