Climate offenders: Stars and billionaires who use their private jets the most

In 2021, per capita carbon dioxide emissions globally reached 4.69 tonnes. In the US, the average citizen emits about three times the global average. But that’s nothing compared to the billionaires and celebrities who catch their private jets as often as someone else might catch a bus or grab their car.

Private jets are the most polluting form of transport that you can take. And despite the growing dangers of climate change and ease of remote meetings, the use of private jets is 10% higher in 2023 compared to before the pandemic, according to private jet analyst WINGX.

Despite everything celebrities know (and often say) about climate change, that doesn't stop them from taking to the skies in opulent style. While most of us fly in coach, dreaming about business class, they only opt for the most luxurious and private form of travel!.

According to climatejets.org, which analyzed flight data from 2022, the top private jet polluter was the billionaire Thomas Siebel. The founder of Siebel Systems and AI company C3.ai was in the hour 35 days, emitting the equivalent of the carbon footprint of 299 average Americans in his jet alone.

The Murdoch family’s private jet doesn’t get much of a rest, with Rupert and his family flying around the world on business related to the right-wing news empire as well as personal fun (90-year-old Rupert is getting remarried!)

The next six slots are also occupied by billionaires: The DeVos family, Sam Zell (image - founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments), Jared Isaacman (Chief Executive Officer of Shift4), Arthur Blank (co-founder of Home Depot), Robert F. Smith (Founder of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners) and business magnate Len Blavatnik. All those emissions are the same as what 1,500 Americans contribute to climate change in a year.

The billionaire and former Democratic mayor of New York City is among the ten worst offenders. Although he pushes forward key efforts to fight climate change, he doesn’t exactly practice what he preaches. Robert Kraft, Chief Executive Officer of the New England Patriots, rounds off the list of the ten most compulsive private jet users.

The Miami rapper is said to be the worst polluting artist of the year. He reportedly spent 25 days in the air, most frequently visiting California, Las Vegas, New Jersey, Portugal, and Canada. He’s followed by the billionaire Lorenzo Fertitta.

The billionaire’s jet contributed as much to climate change as 197 average Americans. But he told the BBC that flying on his jets doesn’t make him “part of the problem” because he invests billions in climate innovation and more than offsets his carbon emissions. He’s also said that “owning a plane is a guilty pleasure.”

The following worst jet emitters of the year were all billionaires who may not be household names but include the CEO of Aston Martin; the crypto entrepreneur Charles Hoskinson; president of Roma F.C; the owner of Citadel; Trevor Milton, a convicted felon and the founder of Nikola; the richest family in Egypt and a Florida based billionaire attorney.

The 21st-worst offender is the Facebook/Meta Founder, whose jet alone emitted as much C02 as 152 average Americans. An outspoken advocate for fighting climate change, in 2022, his family philanthropy organization committed $44 million to fund climate solutions.

Next up is the motivational speaker Tony Robbins. He teaches followers both how to make money and how to spend it. “Private jets. Private flight. Extraordinary,” he said in a motivational video. “There’s nothing that changes the quality of life when you travel as much as I do, as that.”

Skipping over six lesser-known billionaires, we get to the famous American businessman Mark Cuban at spot 29. In 2017 he told Money that buying a private jet was his “all-time goal.”

After Cuban comes the beloved comedian Seinfeld. Although he hasn’t done much more than his famous sitcom, he’s still worth close to $1 billion, making him the richest comedian in the world. But what's the deal with so much private jet travel?

Rap star and Beyonce’s husband burned the equivalent carbon emissions of 131 average Americans on his jet last year. In the US, his top destinations were New Jersey, California, New York, and Massachusetts.

The retired American boxing champ is the top polluting athlete on the list. Now shifting to working as a boxing promoter, he visited countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Asia last year.

After a few more lesser-known billionaires comes the former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The powerful Democrat was an advisor to Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and says the easiest way to solve all of America’s problems at once is with a stimulus program that rewards renewable energy and tries to replace fossil fuels.

The founder of Amazon spent 15 days flying last year, mostly around the west coast of the US, to Western European countries and Japan. In doing so, his jet emitted as much as 114 average Americans.

Skipping over the WhatsApp founder and the owner of the LA Clippers, next we have Mr. Musk himself. The on-and-off richest man in the world spent 14.5 days flying, mostly in Texas and California. He famously got one service that tracked his private jet flights kicked off of Twitter.

A-Rod is the second athlete on the list, coming in after several other wealthy businessmen. The former baseball star took 86 flights in 2022 that burned 160,519 gallons of jet fuel.

The country singer and TV star is the third musician on the list, most frequently flying to California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Canada, and the Bahamas.

The first female (outside of a family) on the list in 2022, Kim’s jet emitted as much carbon as 95 Americans. She loves her private jet and does what she can to keep it pristine. On an episode of her reality show, she wouldn’t let her sister onboard after getting a spray tan in fear of staining the cashmere seats.

Just behind Kardashian is the director of blockbusters like ‘Jaws’ and ‘E.T.’ Spending a total of 12 days in the air, his jet burned 151,583 gallons of jet fuel last year.

The first Hollywood actor on the list, Marky Mark loves his jet. He was particularly criticized for taking a super short flight from Dublin to nearby Shannon to play a round of golf. Short flights are especially egregious offenders because there are very easy, comfy alternatives like driving (unlike flying first-class commercial like a peasant).

After a few more billionaires, including another woman — Steve Jobs’ widow — comes the infamous “My Pillow Guy.” The CEO of My Pillow played a significant role in financing Trump’s attempts to overturn the election result, spread disproven theories about voter fraud, and also promoted the toxic plant extract oleandrin as an alternative cure to COVID-19.

Next up we have network TV’s most famous psychologist, Dr. Phil. In 2022, Oprah’s former pal went to Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Canada, France, and Italy, polluting as much as 85 average Americans just in the sky.

The Puerto Rican singer is often described as the new king of Reggaeton, and his private jet use shows he’s living like something like a king too. That’s despite his net worth of approx $15 million, which is a healthy sum but much lower than many of the mega-millionaires and billionaires on the list.

The legendary ‘Star Wars’ director is also a legendary private jet user. Spending more than 11 full days in the air last year, his jet created more pollution than 84 average Americans would.

The next known figure on the list and first Canadian is funnyman Jim Carry, whose most frequent destinations were California, Las Vegas, Japan, the Cayman Islands, the UK, France, and Italy.

While Burnett may have made a good chunk of his money from producing the TV show ‘Survivor,’ he is living in the lap of luxury on his private jet. Those carbon emissions were more than that of 74 average Americans but just slightly less than other billionaires like Peter Thiel.

The Australian country singer and husband of Nicole Kidman most frequently traveled to Nashville, Wichita, and California in the US.

In a different report released in the summer of 2022, T. Swift was accused of being the most polluting celebrity. And while she is notorious for taking quick pleasure flights, her spokesperson said that stat was because she loaned out her private jet a lot. Whatever the case, her 2022 emissions in this report are still bad, but not the worst.