Apple Inc. (Tim Cook)’s Gulfstream G650
Since 2017 Apple's board has required Tim Cook to use private aircraft for all travel, personal included, 'in the interests of security and efficiency', and its proxy statements disclose the cost each year (about $767,000 in 2022). Steve Jobs was famously given a Gulfstream V by Apple's board in 1999 as a thank-you for returning to the company.
What it costs to keep flying
If flown 300 hours a year, our model puts the annual bill at:
- Crew, hangar, insurance, training
- $1,700K
- Fuel & maintenance (300 h)
- $1,740K
- Depreciation
- $3,345K
- Cost of capital (5%)
- $2,925K
Estimate. Bespoke interiors, extra crew and hangar in premium locations push it higher.
The aircraft
- Type
- Gulfstream Aerospace G650ER
- Class
- Ultra-Long-Range
- Range
- 7,500 nm
- Max cruise
- 516 kts (Mach 0.93)
- Passengers
- 14–19
- Cabin
- 46.8 × 8.5 × 6.4 ft
- New price
- —
- Fuel burn
- 470 gal/h
Sources: corporatejetinvestor.com · qz.com
Related
Elon Musk
Gulfstream G650ER · $70M reported
The tail number encodes his 28 June birthday, and the G650ER became the most-tracked business jet in the world after a student-run account began posting its movements in 2020. Musk also operates two Gulfstream G550s and was reported to have ordered a G700 in 2022. The jet's public tracking led to a 2022 policy change on Twitter/X that banned real-time location sharing.
Jeff Bezos
Gulfstream G650ER · $65M reported
Bezos has owned two G650ERs through a Seattle holding company and was reported in late 2024 to be selling the older one (a 2015 airframe) for just under $39 million after taking delivery of a new Gulfstream G700 reported at around $80 million. His arrival at the COP26 climate summit by Gulfstream drew wide media attention in 2021.
Bill Gates
Gulfstream G650ER (two) · $70M reported
Gates is reported to own two G650ERs, both 2018 builds based at Boeing Field in Seattle, plus access to Challenger 350s via a NetJets arrangement. He has called private flying his 'guilty pleasure' and says he offsets his emissions by funding direct-air-capture and sustainable fuel ventures.