Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's billionaires gives plenty of support to the old chestnut that the way to become an aviation millionaire is to start out as a billionaire.
Turns out there are 793 dollar-billionaires that Forbes has managed to identify, so scanning the list is not a quick task - but I can't find anyone who made all that much of his or her pile out of aviation. There are a good few who have played around in it though, and some just starting.
Sir Richard Branson in Britain is the closest thing to an aviation billionaire I can find - and he isn't really one. But at 55 and, says Forbes, sitting on $1.8 billion, he has created about two and a half airlines with another one in the works. Plus he could be the first space tourism operator and has made the occasional balloon trip you'll recall.
Less well-known, but vastly richer, is Carlos Slim of Mexico who with $30 billion could no doubt afford to see his new low-cost airline Volaris go bust without losing much sleep.
But India's Vijay Mallya is taking more of a risk to his mere $1 billion with start-up Kingfisher Airlines and its order for Airbus A380s.
I think London City Airport must have contributed a fair proportion of Irishman Dermot Desmond's $1 billion - it's been a terrific business for him and makes far more sense than losing money in airlines.
Mind you, 70 year-old Carl Icahn, who one way or another has picked up $8.7 billion, showed with TWA that you don't actually have to have a successful airline to come out on top.
And in fact it's probably people like Paul Allen, who Forbes has in sixth place on its list with $22 billion, who is getting most satisfaction from his expenditure in aerospace by also exploring space on a private basis.
Last word from me goes to the man who, with $42 billion is number two on Forbes' list - Warren Buffett. The Sage of Omaha did not get into that position by indulging himself in aviation for its own sake, and his investments in FlightSafety and NetJets have got to be two of the canniest ever made in aviation. (Oh, and in the end he did succumb by shelling out on a business jet that he has admitted is essentially because he wants one.)
I'm sure there are others on the list - drop a comment below if you can find any and tell us what you think about investing in aviation.
I think you might find Steven Udvar-Hazy of ILFC might be a genuine aviation billionaire. When Steve sold his partial shareholding in ILFC in mid-1990 to AIG (which also bought the shareholdings of the Gonda family, Leslie and Lou, also for billions) I seem to recall the sale price of Steve's shareholding was said then to be $1.3 billion. Even with all or most of his shareholding sold, I believe Mr. Udvar-Hazy has done quite well out of ILFC's subsequent growth, as its CEO and then its chairman ...
I think it's also possible that GPA Group founder and former chairman and CEO Tony Ryan, also the patriarch of Ryanair if not officially its founding owner, may be a dollar billionaire despite GPA's implosion in the mid-1990s. If not, he's still got a few bob to buy an upgrade to business class!
You might want also to check out Steve Feinberg, founder and large-part owner of Cerberus Capital Management, the largest hedge fund manager in the world (the businesses it owns bring in rather more than Coca-Cola in revenue terms). Cerberus bought the then-named debis AirFinance (now known as AerCap Aviation Solutions)in May/June last year for around $1.4 billion and is growing it rapidly as well as building a portfolio of complementary civil aviation and aerospace-related businesses. Watch this space.
Also, what about some of the very smart members of the royal families of Middle East and Gulf nations? They're fairly well off and are pretty closely associated with large aviation investment portfolios.
I'd say investing in aviation isn't necessarily a bad thing, particularly if you can surround yourself with people who know a thing or two about operating leasing.
That's my two-penn'orth!
Chris Kjelgaard
I think more investment should be made into research within the field of aerospace and aerodynamic technology, because I think it is essential that somebody (scientist, aeronautical engineer, geek) come up with a better and faster way of air travel and I don't just mean inter-planetary but, also outter space travel. Maybe one day some scientist might dream up an intergalactic super-highway that can take us anywhere in the large and vast universe above us.
I only hope and dream but the potential is out there and if we don't do anything, we'll never get there.
Thanks for letting me post my comment.
Brian
Brian
There's a few more as well:
Constantino de Oliveira Jr who founded Gol (on the back of a bus empire) and made it pretty successful so far
Serge Dassault - the name says it all
Lucio Tan - owns Philippine Airlines (and a variety of other things)
And I agree with Chris - some of the UAE fortunes do not appear on this list, but Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum must surely be in this list - and he's involved in the airline, the airport, the CAA, the duty free concession and now Dubai Aerospace....
Henk Ombelet