SpaceX and AI startup wealth fuels demand for private jets

Source: Reuters

Aviation lawyer Amanda Applegate skipped ​her annual vacation last month as a surge of wealth from AI startups and sent a wave of tech investors shopping for private jets, burying her in ‌paperwork for aircraft-purchase agreements.

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The IPO of Elon Musk's SpaceX, whose holdings include artificial-intelligence firm xAI, raised a record $85.7 billion for the company and generated unprecedented employee and founder wealth. Next in line for potential big IPOs are AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI.

Venture capitalists, board directors and early employees of SpaceX and other AI companies, along with bankers shepherding anticipated IPOs, are channeling fresh wealth into private aviation, turning it into ​an early beneficiary of the AI boom. Reuters reported last month that luxury travel companies are increasingly targeting tech entrepreneurs, reflecting expectations that the sector will spawn a new cohort of billionaires.

"I ​think there are many more people who can afford to travel privately, and that number seems to grow daily," Applegate said. So far this year, ⁠business at her company, Soar Aviation Law, which handles aircraft purchases and agreements, has jumped 25%.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/spacex-ai-startup-wealth-fuels-demand-private-jets-2026-07-09/