Connect with us

Published

on

Executives using corporate jets for personal travel has soared 50% since the pandemic — a free perk that has cost their companies millions of dollars.

Companies in the S&P 500 spent $65 million for their high-ranking execs to use corporate jets for personal travel in 2022, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Early signs suggest the trend continued in 2023, a Wall Street Journal analysis found, though executive pay and perks aren’t typically reported until spring.

Operating a private jet is a costly endeavor, running companies anywhere from $1,100 to $1,900 per flight hour, not including maintenance fees and costs associated with storage and crews, according to private jet charter company LunaJets.

Despite the hefty bill, the number of big companies providing the perk has risen about 14% since 2019, The Journal reported.

As of 2022, 216 companies listed on the S&P 500 were offering corporate jets for executives’ personal use, per the outlet, citing figures from executive data firmEquilar show.

The number of executives receiving free flights also grew nearly 25%, to 427, year-over-year in 2022.

Among the companies spending big bucks on corporate jets, Meta Platforms topped the list in 2022, spending $6.6 million on the perk for personal flights for its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and his then-lieutenant, Sheryl Sandberg, The Journal found.

The figure marks a 55% increase from 2019.

Zuckerberg has been criticized for his company jet’s carbon footprint, though Meta has said that the private plane is necessary for “maintaining Mark’s safety while enabling him to go about his life with minimal disruption.”

Casino giant Las Vegas Sands had the second-largest bill, spending $3.2 million on flights for four C-suite honchos — more than double its annual expense in any year since 2015, per The Journal.

In addition, public utility company Exelon — owner of Chicagos Commonwealth Edison utility — more than tripled its spending on freebie flights for executives since 2019.

Aerospace company Lockheed Martin, Modelo Especial parent Constellation Brands and Tyson Foods also paid out handsome sums for personal flights in company aircraft soar in 2022 — $2.1 million, $1.9 million, and $1.8 million, respectively, The Journal reported.

These so-called “personal flights” reportedly include trips companies can’t classify as business-related, such as flights to board meetings for other companies or commuting from faraway residences.

Some companies give their executives a fixed allowance for these flights, in hours or dollars — typically $25,000 per year — and require reimbursement beyond that threshold, according to the Journal.

PepsiCo is one of the companies that uses this model.

The New York-based food and beverage corporation spent $776,000 on personal flights for five executives in 2022 — double what it paid in 2019, The Journal reported, though two-thirds of 2022’s trips were subsidized by CEO Ramon Laguarta.

However, the sums have little financial impact on most giant corporations, the outlet said. For reference, Meta’s revenue in 2022 came in at $116 billion, meaning Zuckerberg and Sandberg’s $6.6 million worth of flights made a measly less-than-1% dent.

There was only one company in The Journal’s analysis whose spending on corporate jets was whittled down to $0 in 2022: Match Group, which named a new CEO earlier this month as it struggles with a decline in paying users.

Its most popular subsidiary, Tinder, has seen a churn in each of the last four quarters, which has cut into its bottom line.

Continue Reading

World

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ will be unpaid

Published

on

By

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for 'high-IQ revolutionaries' will be unpaid

“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.

The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.

The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

Read more:
Who is in Trump’s top team?
Trump’s cabinet signals tough stance on China

Elon Musk speaks after President-elect Donald Trump spoke during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Image:
Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.

“What a great deal!”

When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”

Continue Reading

World

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

Published

on

By

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.

A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.

Jardines de Villafranca nursing home following the fire.
Pic: AP
Image:
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP

They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.

Residents are moved out of the nursing home following the fire.
Pic: AP
Image:
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP

Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.

The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.

Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.

All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.

Relatives waiting for news outside the nursing home where least 10 people have died in a fire in Zaragoza, Spain.
Pic: AP
Image:
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP

Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.

It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.

The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.

Continue Reading

US

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ will be unpaid

Published

on

By

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for 'high-IQ revolutionaries' will be unpaid

“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.

The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.

The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

Read more:
Who is in Trump’s top team?
Trump’s cabinet signals tough stance on China

Elon Musk speaks after President-elect Donald Trump spoke during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Image:
Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.

“What a great deal!”

When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”

Continue Reading

Trending