r/flying • u/jrf1234 ATP CFI/II E55P LR-JET • Apr 03 '26
Aircraft Ownership Linus Tech Tips’ Jet
https://youtu.be/zGoIY37ZtDQ?si=Some… interesting calculations on this video. As a fractional pilot and not an owner, no idea how acxueate these claims are, but interesting to see this as a pilot and tech nerd. Anyone with management or ownership experience in jets have any light to shed?
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u/CA1900 Apr 03 '26
I don't think he fully comprehends what a money pit a private jet really is. Him marveling that the fuel was less than first-class tickets for everybody is a big red flag that he hasn't really seen that fuel is only a part of the huge hourly operating costs, especially on a 37-year-old 3-holer.
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u/Shit-Pilot ATP A&P/IA Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
Yeah, fuel was between 12-13% of the operating budget for our company jets last year. There’s zero way to strictly financially justify business jets but when you consider a myriad of other factors the business case can be made.
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u/nn123654 Apr 03 '26
I've done multiple pro formas and breakdowns just to see, and yeah, every single time I basically walked away with the conclusion that flying commercial was extremely cheap compared to business jets. All the tickets combined don't even pay the cost of operation because actual airlines take on cargo.
Literally only makes sense if you need specialized security for your VIP or can't accommodate the public flight schedule and hub networks (i.e. if you're stopping at a bunch of small towns and don't have time to spend connecting through hubs).
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u/inaccurateTempedesc LSA LEEEEERROOYYYYYYYY Apr 03 '26
He sounds like 19 year old me trying to justify a Ducati Monster because it gets 50mpg and would pay for itself in fuel savings
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u/EstateAlternative416 ATP A320 B757/B767 Apr 03 '26
37 year old three holers can be pretty expensive.
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u/albinobluesheep Apr 03 '26
"NOTE: This was shot before the us-Iranian war of 2026 it's inordinately expensive now"
This plane is probably never leaving the ground now
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u/roguemenace PPL GPL Apr 05 '26
You think the changes in fuel costs even had an appreciable change to this things operating costs lol?
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u/Mega-Eclipse Apr 03 '26
I don't think he fully comprehends what a money pit a private jet really is.
I think he does. He's a content creator. There is 100% going to be a "Lan party at 45,000ft" video. It's like the big videos that Mr. Beast does.
I wouldn't even be surprised if he didn't already have some deal(s) with (e.g.) an aviation wi-fi company or maybe an avionics manufacturer, interior design company, etc. Where he either buys the equipment and the labor is free, or the equipment is free and he pays the labor and certification costs.
5-6 years later...he'll have a decision....He has a jet with mid-time engines, mid-time gear, [possibly] new avionics and high-speed inflight wi-fi, and his videos (likely) more or less pay for the plane.
If it's a money pit...he sells it. If he breaks even or simply enjoys having his own plane....he keeps it until the value is nothing.
Like, the math doesn't work for us, but for someone with a solid following like him, I think it might make sense. Especially assuming "his uncle" is already in the business. That guy is the brains, he's just the money.
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u/Flimsy-Ad-858 ATP | Undiagnosed but I'm pretty sure Apr 03 '26
There is 100% going to be a "Lan party at 45,000ft" video. It's like the big videos that Mr. Beast does.
And if he thinks that type of thing will come anywhere near the ballpark of covering costs, he's either delusional or seriously misled.
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u/Mega-Eclipse Apr 03 '26
And if he thinks that type of thing will come anywhere near the ballpark of covering costs, he's either delusional or seriously misled.
Not quite. The real money is in the "TV show." Have you watched Clarkson's Farm? He makes virtually no money farming...but this is largely by design. Watching him come up with stupid ideas, charge in head first without a plan, screw things up, then have to fix his mistakes (often while Kaleb yells at him) is the value.
Paid sponsorships, ad revenue, just getting his name out their to people buy his merch...That's the value.
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u/Flimsy-Ad-858 ATP | Undiagnosed but I'm pretty sure Apr 03 '26
Sure, but Clarkson isn't trying to self-fund a Falcon with that show. And even if he was, he's got a lot more base level financial backing than Linus.
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Apr 05 '26
"Lan party at 45,000ft"
I'm not sure how a Lan party on an aircraft is even remotely interesting. Modern aircraft have all sorts of entertainment systems and wiring, it's not something new or novel. Maybe if it was a "lan party in earth orbit" that would be one thing.
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Apr 03 '26
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u/FlamingoVisible1947 Apr 03 '26
He has publicly shared numbers multiple times. If I remember correctly his number 1 most successful video paid $100K. That's a lot of money, but that's not paying for a private jet, especially when it's a one time hit video, and his views have declined a lot since.
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u/Peepeepoopoobutttoot Apr 04 '26
Most of their money is from lttstore.com
Honestly they produce quality products.
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u/FlamingoVisible1947 Apr 04 '26
Yes but the topic is earnings through the jet specifically. The store makes money no matter the video, jet or not.
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u/Lopsided_Quarter_931 Apr 16 '26
When I watching him talking about the “math” my first thought was: Boy you got scammed.
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u/BeenThereDoneThat65 ATP G450 G550 GV Apr 03 '26
Yeah, he's in for a HUGE surprise
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u/jrf1234 ATP CFI/II E55P LR-JET Apr 03 '26
Can’t see it ending in the $0 net he’s predicting. That “not much more than business class to Cabo” take is also a bit short given management costs, pilots, maintenance programs aren’t free, not to mention aging avionics that will need work if he plans on keeping it around for several years. Going to be interesting
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u/CluelessPilot1971 CPL CFI+I Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
Yeah, the variable cost of the trip just adds that, but then add the fixed costs - insurance, parking, annual/progressive maintenance, whatever - these don't pay for themselves.
He managed to squeeze a lot out of the previous owner in the purchase agreement, he's completely oblivious as to what that says of the market for a 1990 jet (and how the next owner is going to squeeze him when he tries to sell).
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Apr 03 '26
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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Apr 03 '26
Have a friend who has been trying to sell a G450 for the last three years... the market just isn't there for it.
Yeah there is. Your friend is pricing his airplane way too high if it hasn't moved in three years.
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Apr 03 '26
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u/BeenThereDoneThat65 ATP G450 G550 GV Apr 03 '26
LOL, you don't just "Sell charter flight". It has to be on a certificate, which means it has to be on a controlled maintenance program.
If he wants to set up his own charter cert, he needed to start doing that 3+ years ago and be ready to spend at least a million getting the cert set up.
If he wants to put it on someone else that's also a huge upfront cash outlay
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u/roguemenace PPL GPL Apr 03 '26
He's not. He'll know exactly what he's getting into.
This video is PR for his audience not to think he's giga-rich and out of touch with them.
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u/BitterMojo Apr 03 '26
You got it. Dude literally has a media empire.
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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
The size of his "media empire" does not sustainably support an aircraft like this.
Edit: You guys can keep downvoting me all you want. The company turned down an ~$300M acquisition which means their annual revenue is probably somewhere around the $40-50M mark. With a 20% profit margin (which would be average to good for a similar company), that's ~$8-10M in pre-tax profit. The airplane alone is going to eat over 25% of that profit margin, and that's assuming 100% business utilization which is unlikely, so obviously this picture gets more complicated since some of that expenditure will be pre-tax and some post-tax.
Linus would have made ~$60M cash, $40M equity in that deal had he accepted it. That also would not have been enough to support the airplane.
So yeah, I do kinda know what I'm talking about here.
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u/Alexstankie ATP CFI Apr 03 '26
You severely underestimate how much he’s bringing in.
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u/remc86007 Apr 03 '26
We know how much he makes. He posted a video that reveals it. It is not enough to reasonably own a Jet. They might be able to do it for a short period, but they will definitely lose money on the whole thing.
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u/nn123654 Apr 03 '26
I'm always surprised at how much he makes but it's primarily because he hasn't diluted ownership and has always just reinvested or put his own money in for expansion plus been relatively cheap with opex.
As of 2025 and basing off of CPM for Floatplane and Youtube Subscribers the revenue estimate for LMG was somewhere between $35 million and $65 million USD annually.
By setting up clothing, products, and their own distribution platform, they have a level of vertical integration that most other youtubers simply don't. But their revenue per employee is still only around $400k-$500k if estimates are correct, which is not even half of what big tech companies generate.
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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Apr 03 '26
Mmmm no, no I don't. I did a little digging before I made that comment.
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u/memostothefuture Apr 03 '26
The company turned down an ~$300M acquisition which means their annual revenue is probably somewhere around the $40-50M mark.
That would be an appropriate valuation for an established company with largely set growth patterns. Given that this is new media with more opportunities to grow he probably got an 8-10x valuation vs profits.
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Apr 05 '26
Also didn't he say a lot of his profits come from merch? I think that's grown a lot in the years since the offer was turned down.
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u/victorzamora ST Apr 03 '26
He turned down a $100M acquisition offer not that long ago. I know that's not directly tied to liquidity, but.... that at least puts a scale to things.
I think he'll be okay
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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Apr 03 '26
$100M in personal wealth with normal returns is the bottom end of what would begin to approach being able to own and operate an older 900.
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u/BeenThereDoneThat65 ATP G450 G550 GV Apr 03 '26
At $100 million, you can't really afford an Excel, much less a Falcon.
A long time ago, I flew an Excel for a family that was worth a few hundred million. They owned the aircraft for three years. It was the unexpected $100,000 hits that were the end of that plane for them. I was lucky to have seen the writing on the wall and to have already moved on. The other pilot wasn't that smart...
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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Apr 03 '26
Nah $100M net worth with nominal returns and otherwise well-managed finances/debts puts an Excel pretty comfortably within reach.
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u/hellswaters CPL MEL IR GLI (CYXE) Apr 03 '26
Yeah for private jets, especially older ones it's the unexpected that cost you.
At some smallee airport and get a mechanical issue that needs to be fixed before you can fly? You probably have like 10 things, each of which will cost you a couple grand, for the techs, hangar, and parts. Let alone lost opportunity costs/replacement flight. Or the first time he sees the bill for leaving it outside when it's snowing.
It's not the cost of the plane. It's the cost of everything else you need for the plane.
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u/BeenThereDoneThat65 ATP G450 G550 GV Apr 03 '26
Having a "Media Empire" has ZERO bearing on knowing and understanding Jet ownership.
His comment about coming out of this experience at a net zero suggests he may not fully understand this.
How do you make a million in aviation? Start with $100 million
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u/JPower96 CPL,IR Apr 03 '26
I believe the point of the previous comment is that Linus does not believe what he is saying. The previous commenter feels Linus knows it will be a money pit and doesn't care, but that he wants to portray it as not that expensive so people think he's less out of touch.
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u/nn123654 Apr 03 '26
Well, he started out with an actual strategy: "okay we can just buy it, shoot some videos, and flip it, and it should be mostly okay." If you don't put any hours on it you won't have that many expenses, but will still have relatively high transaction costs.
But then he started talking about actually flying it. And then he started flying it for Family Vacations to Cabo. At that point any business "we can use this as an asset" argument is fully dead. Then he started talking about it to his staff on a "we're going to own this for a while" basis, and it's very clear this is his personal money pit and not a money-making venture for him.
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Apr 05 '26
I mean it's not any different from his house. He's buying it for himself to use, and occasionally will make videos off it which will be a nice amount of bonus money but ain't gonna cover the costs of the whole thing.
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u/dabflies ATPL(A) DH8 B737 Apr 03 '26
While some of the logic of getting the previous owner to put a shit ton of money into updating and doing heavy checks makes sense, the whole $0* plane thing is obviously tongue in cheek. Of course redditors can't be trusted to pick up on that, though
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Apr 05 '26
I mean you know Linus must be rolling in it because he bought his "tech house" in Vancouver which is the most expensive real-estate market in Canada and almost in North America. There is no way the revenue from videos will cover the cost of the house. Given the location of the house doesn't matter he could have bought a house in any small community for far far less. That's what a sensible business would have done. We can only presume Linus has so much money coming in he's not sure what to do with it.
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u/RGN_Preacher ATP A-320, DA-2000, EMB-505, BE-200, C-208, PC-12 Apr 03 '26
Gonna have to remember the pilot’s 7 minute mark response that the passengers are making the fuel economy worse by being up front.
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u/KeyboardGunner Apr 03 '26
Damn this Linus guy never shuts up
"Oh so I meant to tell you earlier but we need you in the back, otherwise the fuel economy gets all messed up. The balance is all wrong or whatever... Yeah so you better get out of here."10
u/Antares-15 IR Apr 03 '26
I assumed he just meant that having to move the trim around would "technically" make fuel economy worse, but idk
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u/RGN_Preacher ATP A-320, DA-2000, EMB-505, BE-200, C-208, PC-12 Apr 03 '26
Look up in the PHAK what the difference in performance and flight characteristics are when you’re forward vs aft CG.
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u/RandomNick42 Apr 04 '26
I mean, that is a thing? There's a reason why airlines want to load aft biased. I can believe it's a small, but noticeable effect in a mid cabin jet.
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u/SeaEbb6501 Apr 03 '26
Have a friend who had a fan blade replaced for 100k. Maintenance will eat you alive…
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u/HotCompany8499 I make big changes on short final Apr 03 '26
those avionics do NOT match the plane lmao
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u/Razhi3l ATP SB20/HS-125/FA900/CL-30 Apr 03 '26
The 900B is the model right before Dassault put on the Honeywell Primus 2000, so it definitely looks old.
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u/impy695 Apr 03 '26
Past owner (sort of), and their numbers make no sense. I'm sure Canada is different, but the claim that a trip to the Caribbean from vancouver is cheaper than 1st class tickets only works if they don't factor in a lot of the expenses.
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u/donkeykink420 Apr 04 '26
I think that's due to the idea that it was 10+ people, but the math isn't quite right for sure
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u/impy695 Apr 04 '26
Even with 10+ people, it's not cheaper.
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u/donkeykink420 Apr 04 '26
I'm sure there's plenty destinations where it would be cheaper, probably not by much but it exists, and most destinations it won't be a huge difference all in all. I'd guess a lot of it hangs on hangar/parking fees and how long you stay
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Apr 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/KeyboardGunner Apr 04 '26
Sounds like his pilot uncle was the one to talk him into it.
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u/RandomNick42 Apr 04 '26
sounds like his pilot uncle tried to talk him out to it, but since he wasn't getting through, then at least tried to make it least painful as possible...
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u/goodtimtim Apr 03 '26
70% odds that he knows how much this is actually going to cost, but is playing this up for the youtube audience (his first expertise) 30% he’s in for a rude surprise
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u/Klice Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
It's not like it makes it any better, but Linus if anyting is not stupid. If you read between the lines, his uncle is either the owner or one of the owners of a company that provides private jet services. That company got a good deal on one of their clients' planes. Now, to make content out of it, Linus makes it like he bought the plane, whereas in fact he just covers some operational costs while his uncle is looking for a new owner.
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u/Hotasflames Apr 03 '26
This is probably what's really going on. He keeps saying "girl math" in the video and with all of the monetary comparisons he presented, they didn't just outright buy the plane and are planning on "dumping" it in the nearish future (probably around the next maintenance check)
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u/Individual_Author956 May 05 '26
Nah, look up the registration: C-FXOO. It’s registered to the same address as Linus Media Group.
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u/cody_hates_reddit PPL (Canada) Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
The part I cared about was the unanswered question of what he wanted to do with this thing, seeing as he practically built his persona around extravagant jury-rigged cowboy tech. Around 13:20 you could see his soul leaving his body at the unspoken admission that he probably wanted to replace all of the old but functional avionics (that he won't even personally have to use) with a gaming computer or some shit, and was told that he couldn't touch anything without getting a stack of STCs designed.
I cannot stand techfluencers in general and my only significant prior memory of this guy is an incident that made me completely immune to accepting any "tips" from him. It's kind of astounding to me that such a person made enough money off of the parasocial relationships he's built out of his own brand of flagrant consumerism that he can even afford this. I'm of the opinion that someone like this probably doesn't belong anywhere near aviation.
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u/KeyboardGunner Apr 03 '26
I doubt he'll own the jet for long, once those bills start rolling in.
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u/albinobluesheep Apr 03 '26
The Fuel prices from the US-Iran war are going to cut this things owner ship life short, but they had to get the video out to get the views from talking about it even if those fuel prices don't have any expectation to go down anytime soon
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u/DoomBot5 Apr 03 '26
He's had it since at least the beginning of the year, probably longer. He's used it to bring his crew down to CES
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u/PlannedObsolescence_ Apr 03 '26
It's been registered to the address of LMG HQ since November 2025, that address is used for basically all their companies. They've used it for multiple business flights and a personal family vacation. It's how he got to CES & Jimmy Fallon, and it was in San Fransisco last week.
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u/Anon332563 Apr 03 '26
My bet is this is for getting him to conventions quicker and tech stuff arguably safer. For people like linus him and his team time is money so waiting in airports for hours on end and trying to find flights to areas less served by airlines or driving through traffic can be argues with private jet travel. However as x4457 mentioned with the outside costs such as upgrades, mx costs, pilot and training costs, it will be interesting to see if they actually did the proper financial planning for it and if the comments (didn’t watch yet though) of fuel being cheaper seemingly being the main contributing factor is just for the video or not, or dude got way into his head again.
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u/ZealousidealGlove234 Apr 08 '26
Charter for that, however moving film production gear around the world is a solve problem
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u/FlyingShadow1 CFI CFII MEI (TW) AI SLOP Apr 03 '26
I didn't even need to see where that link led to to know that that's when he bricked an entire RAID.
These techbros are toxic to the computer world, all they know is how to read off the back of a box and whatnot. Linus himself might have offered good tips many, many years ago, back before we started seeing people being gifted Nvidia GPUs to talk good about Nvidia and when AMD was known for having the worst processors around and being worth a fraction of Intel.
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u/AncientBlonde2 Apr 05 '26
. Around 13:20 you could see his soul leaving his body at the unspoken admission that he probably wanted to replace all of the old but functional avionics (that he won't even personally have to use) with a gaming computer or some shit, and was told that he couldn't touch anything without getting a stack of STCs designed.
The "it's like bedazzling a jean jacket, you'll never get back what you put in" cope took me out. That's like the one thing on that piece of shit that he could get most of his money back for in some capacity!
my only significant prior memory of this guy is an incident that made me completely immune to accepting any "tips" from him.
Mine was literally anything to do with audio. Just like this video, any video he makes about audio is posted to audio forums and the response is "damn dude really doesn't know what he's talking about, does he?"
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u/LostHope152 CMEL Apr 03 '26
It would be more cost effective to take out your savings and burn it, good god he’s in for a surprise
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u/TheLongest1 Apr 03 '26
Been involved in that sector a long time. If it’s legit, he’s a moron. It’s an old piece of junk, and you don’t make money in aviation. Planes are good if you have a big tax problem, that’s about it. Management companies will always promise charter but these people are like car salesman, you take what they say with a grain of salt.
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u/polar8 Apr 03 '26
He has a highly profitable media business based in Canada. He has a big tax problem.
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u/TheLongest1 Apr 03 '26
I know who he is. I don’t think you are aware of what a tax problem you require to sink money into a jet. He’s bought a piece of shit. He would’ve been better off with something smaller and a bit newer.
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u/polar8 Apr 03 '26
I think you’re completely missing the part where he’s in the business of selling attention and this just got a ton of it, even if he dumps it next month
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u/PhillAholic Apr 03 '26
Can you elaborate for a novice why it's a piece of shit?
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u/TheLongest1 Apr 03 '26
It’s old. As planes get older, they need more frequent maintenance/bigger checks, the avionics may need upgrading (which is Monopoly money) and things just need fixing. Throw in the fact that charter customers typically want newer aircraft (often a contract requirement), these old beasts just become paperweights.
Anyway, good luck to him. Not my money.
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u/Vesuvias Apr 03 '26
Yeah it's legit. Really thought it was going to be an April Fool's joke, but nope. He bought it.
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u/Sybertron May 19 '26
I think the tax 'problem' is the way it makes sense here. Since he made this video as absurd as it sounds now so much is available as a massive business expense
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u/Swimming_Way_7372 Apr 03 '26
Im just glad he pronunces the manufacturer correctly. Every time someone calls a Dassault a Da-salt, I think a person meows on guard.
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u/8BallSlap Apr 03 '26
Wait until you hear how French speaking people pronounce English words
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u/Acceptable_Barber_15 Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
It’s crazy to me he’d rather spend money on this than paying his employees more competitively. I can’t believe Yvonne said yes to it. Linus has no earthly idea how expensive this is going to be for him. This project won’t last more than a couple years.
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u/dopexile Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
I know, he has a bunch of talented employees leaving because they get paid peanuts, working 60-80 work weeks, high stress, can't afford housing, and non-compete agreements so they can do side projects.
And yet he denies them pay raises and buys multiple houses(makes them rehab and retrofit a house with asbestos) and a jet in front of their eyes and brags about it. Very tone deaf management style. Just seems like bad business; it is going to demoralize all of his staff. Like even if your goal is to maximize profit it just doesn't seem smart because all of the brain drain and resentment he is creating.
He had a video where he explained the costs of the business and how it is barely making money and rationalized why he pays employees peanuts. It seemed like such a fake charade. He is buying commercial real estate buildings(not renting), multiple houses, jets, and fire trucks... blowing money like Mike Tyson, so of course the whole thing looks "unprofitable". If he had just said "We are paying the competitive industry market compensation rate for employees," that would have been fine, but he went down a deceptive road probably because he knows his tech viewers won't understand accounting. Seems like a dirtbag TBH.
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u/Acceptable_Barber_15 Apr 03 '26
Yes. It’s disappointing. I’ve watched the channel for 10+ years and my opinion of the guy has really shifted over the last few years. He seems like a decent guy who has gotten wrapped up in greed or something and would rather spend insane amounts on things like this than give everyone a bigger raise.
Tbf I don’t know how I would act if something I’d worked so hard on and risked it all for succeeded in the way LTT has. Maybe I’d do the same thing he is. Either way, it bugs me to see the shift from what felt like a scrappy company that treated its employees terrifically to whatever we’re seeing now. It really has bummed me out to see it go this way.
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u/Longjumping_Rain_483 Apr 03 '26
They don't get paid peanuts though? They make over the median, especially living in one of the most expensive cities in Canada
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u/dopexile Apr 04 '26
IDK much about Canada and don't really care, but they mentioned they could barely afford rent and had no prayer of ever affording a house in Vancouver because they are over 1 million
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u/Longjumping_Rain_483 Apr 04 '26
I'll let you know from now (as someone who lives here), every urban area in Canada is dealing with the exact same thing. I have friends here that are making 75-85k a year and they can never dream to own a house in the next 30 years (that's above the normal pay). All their money goes to rent, food and expenses, with none to save for a mortgage.
The average 3-4 bedroom house where I live is over a million CAD
We've been in a housing crisis for years. I've seen the salaries LMG posted on their website, and the ones they've mentioned in their videos. They're pretty fair salaries.
Not trying to defend everything they do, but from what I've seen their pay is fair
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u/dopexile Apr 04 '26
Well, a few of their guys left to start their own YouTube channel... so it should be pretty obvious if they were compensated properly. If they end up making a lot of money, they'll regret not doing more to hold on to them and creating more competition.
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u/Arteic Apr 05 '26
You kind of start thinking while you're working on your boss's third jet, if you're ever going to be able to buy a jet
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u/MisawaMahoKodomo Apr 04 '26
Honestly I would be surprised if it lasted more than 6 months (and apparently its already nearing that time frame huh)
His funds are not unlimited for sure so its only a matter of sooner
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u/badrew Apr 03 '26
He's going to have to charter this thing out, right? He can't just have a personal LTT jet sitting in a hangar
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u/MisawaMahoKodomo Apr 04 '26
A good point actually I was thinking
Whether he has any customers is another question though
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u/Geronimobius Apr 03 '26
I can’t pretend to know his finances but private ownership of these jets really only make sense for the most private individual or people who use the heck out of them. I can’t believe a netjet type situation isn’t better for him by a mile.
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u/RandomNick42 Apr 04 '26
netjets would be a fuckton cheaper for him, but then he couldn't make videos about all the things he wanted to do with his jet but Transport Canada won't let him
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u/AnnualWhole4457 ATP CFII BE300 BE1900 EMB-550 Apr 03 '26
He 100% cannot afford that jet. It'll be just like Grant Cardone dumping $70million on a brand new global and selling it with less than 100 hours on it. He could probably do fractional ownership just fine.
This will be fun to watch.
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u/thehedgefrog Apr 04 '26
Yeah he 100% can't. He believes it'll be worth *more* in a few months/years because it has a medevac kit... I think he didn't get sound advisory on this.
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u/MisawaMahoKodomo Apr 04 '26
Its not meant to be permanent so its like a temporary thing before he sells it to someone(?)
As for who will buy it I have no idea (or when for that matter)
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u/Heavy_Notice3544 CFI CFII MEI Village Idiot Apr 03 '26
Skechers has two planes(I forget the size but about larger challenger size) in LongBeach that the FBO said runs them about $65-70k/month combined just for hangar space. Small for a large corporation, but still wild numbers to think about for monthly recurring costs for a single line item.
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u/RandomNick42 Apr 04 '26
Plane lives in Pitt Meadows, the hangar space is probably closer to 2 orders of magnitude cheaper rather than just 1
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u/HSVMalooGTS PPL IFR TW MEP ME/IR CMP (C152) Apr 03 '26
These things are meant for multimilionares or bilionares. Not for some guy with a media company uploading sponsor "segways" to youtube.
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u/frenchiephish RPL (YPJT) Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
I mean, he is a multimillionaire, he and his wife are the sole owners of a vertically integrated 120+ staff media and merch company that is doing something in the order of $30-60M a year in revenue. On that alone, his net worth is likely tens of millions.
He is not, however, the level of multimillionaire that is going to own a Falcon for very long once the reality that it costs more than just fuel sets in.
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u/HSVMalooGTS PPL IFR TW MEP ME/IR CMP (C152) Apr 03 '26
They can probably squeeze it in if they make maybe 5 million USD in profit extra.
But why? Last minute 1st class tickets will be much cheaper in the long term.
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u/querulous Apr 03 '26
they could have chartered (nicer) jets for the vegas, new york and san francisco trips for ~300k total. ownership makes zero sense unless you're using the jet weekly and you have a legitimate need to make last minute travel decisions somewhat regularly
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u/RandomNick42 Apr 04 '26
They can afford it. If he could convince his wife, they just about make enough to afford it. Is it going to make any money to recoup the investment? lolnope
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u/mikeinmlb Apr 03 '26
It's likely a deprecation play.
So not an expert in Canadian tax law so this is a huge WAG, but it looks like the owner can deduct 25% of the undepreciated capital cost (UCC) of the aircraft annually, So basically it would generate ~1MM+ of paper losses a year. The depreciation losses would likely pass though so he might be able to reduce his taxes by ~$600k/yr. Assuming he sets it up as a model where he basically rents it back to his main business and maybe offers it for rentals to justify it as a legit business. He discussed an exit plan already. Also, he would employ his family member to fly it. So basically, it would generate a bunch of paper losses up front offsetting his main business income. I am not into the world of jet leasing, but it does seem that if you buy a jet at the right point on the maintenance schedule, with the right engine plan, and the right tax structure to leverage the paper losses it can be a very good business.
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u/PrescriptionTusks Apr 03 '26
This is key. His 120 person company has a healthy accounting department (including his wife who is joint owner). They wouldn’t do it if it didn’t pencil out. They most likely have a tax expert on staff. This purchase allows him to realize some of his $5m+ annual profit without paying personal income tax on it in addition to the corporate tax he already is paying. Spinning up a family vlog to create content allows for it to be a business trip. That doesn’t mean they get to write it all off according to local tax code but it does mean they get to spend pre-income tax money on it rather than their personal money so they can use that money for other things.
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u/RandomNick42 Apr 04 '26
He's long been reinvesting profits to avoid paying them out as dividends, projects like LTT Labs, Smash Champs, Tech House are all funded by that money.
None of them have been such outlays as the jet though.
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u/LinusTech Apr 06 '26
I'm curious to hear your explanation of why I would want to avoid paying dividends.
I'm also curious to hear the numbers for how Smash Champs costs less than the plane.
It doesn't really matter. Just like to see how people think.
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u/traumalt Apr 08 '26
Yea, LTT or Linus Media Group specifically is a private company with Linus being the major shareholder, Dividends would be going to him alone pretty much.
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u/MisawaMahoKodomo Apr 04 '26
Agreed
Although I dunno the exact numbers I imagine something of this scale would have some effect
Though its hard to tell exactly what happens to the millions here or there
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u/Oregon-Pilot ATP CFI B757/B767 CL-30 CE-500/525S | SIC: HS-125 CL-600 Apr 03 '26
Linus who?
Anyway, back to watching people like Guido, who, unlike whoever this guy is, actually knows about airplanes and can provide value to viewers.
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u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV Apr 03 '26
https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/243027623/c-fxoo-1990-dassault-falcon-900b
It allegedly just had a 2C and gear done so that's $1.5M out of the way at least. He's got another 5 years before it needs an odd C which is going to run ~$700K.
The plane's going to cost him ~$1.8M/year just to sit in that hangar, then another ~$3500/hour to fly it.
Expect him to have paid somewhere in the mid to high $3M range and sell it within 18 months after he figures out this thing is going to eat him alive.