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Climate activists across Europe and the United States blocked entrances to airports Thursday to protest emissions from the aviation industry and call for a ban on private jets. Activists with three groups — Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion and Guardian Rebellion — descended on the airport terminals as part of organized actions in at least 13 countries. In the U.S., activists gathered at King County International Airport in Seattle and blocked entrances to a private jet terminal at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina and at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The activists targeted private jets because they represent the contributions of the ultrarich — and their lifestyles — to global greenhouse gas emissions. “The planet is on fire and people are still flying private jets.

☆ 'Mattress Mack' turned $5,000 in savings into a Texas furniture empire known for generous promotions, and recently won $75 million in the largest payout in sports-betting history
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Over time, McIngvale continued making million-dollar sports bets. During the 2019 World Series, McIngvale travelled the country by private jets to place bets on Astros winning at betting sites in three different states. When the Houston Astros lost to the Washington Nationals, McIngvale lost at least $11.6 million in wagers. He has also made bets on Houston sports teams playing in the NFL playoffs, the Kentucky Derby, and the Superbowl. McIngvale signs a basketball used during the 2019 NBA Playoffs between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 9, (Reuters) - Civil society groups and youth activists at the U.N. COP27 summit held small pop-up rallies Wednesday at designated areas in this Red Sea resort town. At yet another small gathering, about 20 protesters demanded an end to fossil fuel use, chanting: "What do we want? Climate justice ... when do we want it? Youth activist Lucky Abeng of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance said the group wanted world leaders to take the financing agenda seriously. "Adaptation financing and also climate financing for Africa, it’s nonnegotiable," he said.

☆ Social media influencer ‘Hushpuppi’ sentenced to 11 years in prison over money laundering conspiracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES — A Nigerian social media influencer who called himself Ray Hushpuppi and flaunted a lavish lifestyle fueled by his efforts to launder millions of stolen dollars was sentenced Monday in Los Angeles to more than 11 years in federal prison. In 2019, he helped launder some $14.7 million stolen by North Korean hackers from a bank in Malta, funneling the money through banks in Romania and Bulgaria, prosecutors said. His social media posts showed him living a life of luxury, complete with private jets, ultra-expensive cars and high-end clothes and watches. He pleaded guilty in 2020 to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to nearly 12 years in federal prison and was ordered to pay more than $30 million in restitution.

Ramon Abbas, known to his millions of Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi, pleaded guilty in April last year to conspiracy to engage in money laundering. On social media, where Abbas had posted videos of himself tossing wads of cash like confetti, he referred to himself as a real estate developer. His social media account was a treasure trove of information for investigatorsFederal investigators have described Abbas as a prolific money launderer who leveraged his social media platform to gain notoriety and brag about his wealth. In a 2020 affidavit, federal officials detailed how his social media accounts provided details needed to confirm his identity. Even Abbas’ Instagram birthday party photos helped the investigation.

HONG KONG — After mass unrest in 2019, a pandemic that left it isolated from the world and the imposition of a national security law that has crushed dissent, Hong Kong is ready to turn the page. According to government statistics, about 319,000 people arrived in Hong Kong last month, down 97% from 10.8 million in October 2019. According to one report last month, Hong Kong has lost its status as Asia’s top financial center to Singapore. While it may not be realistic to expect businesses to turn away from China’s huge market, global business leaders “need to recognize that there’s a new situation in Hong Kong, there’s a new reality,” said Brian Kern, the lead researcher for a report on doing business in Hong Kong that was published last month by the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a nonprofit group based in Washington. Lee also pointed to a report in September in which Hong Kong topped Singapore as the world’s freest economy.

☆ Activists block private jet traffic at Schiphol Airport
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Laurie Goering | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/5] Climate activists protest against environmental pollution from aviation at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, in Schiphol, Netherlands November 5, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de WouwAMSTERDAM, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Environmental activists rushed onto the area where private jets are kept at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Saturday in an attempt to block them from departing. Hundreds of people had gathered in and around the airport for a demonstration against pollution organized by Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion. No delays in commercial flights were reported as of the early afternoon. Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Climate activists swarm private jets at Amsterdam airport to protest pollution
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Hundreds of climate activists swarmed a private jet section of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Saturday as part of a day of demonstrations in and around the airport. The environmental groups Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion organized the demonstrations to protest the aviation industry's pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as local noise pollution, according to the organizations. The wealthy elite are using more private jets than ever, which is the most polluting way to fly," Dewi Zloch of Greenpeace Netherlands said in a statement. The Dutch government is reportedly considering whether to include private jet traffic in its climate policy. The government in June announced a 440,000-person cap on annual passengers at the airport, citing air pollution and climate concerns.

☆ Glencore fined $314 million for ‘endemic’ bribery of African oil officials
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —Commodities giant Glencore (GLCNF) has been ordered to pay a record £281 million ($314 million) penalty by a UK court for bribing officials across Africa to gain access to oil. The penalty announced on Thursday includes a fine, legal costs and confiscation of the profit Glencore made from its bribes. It also found that, between 2012 and 2015, a Glencore trader and Nigerian agent withdrew a total $13.7 million in cash from Glencore’s Swiss cash desk. Glencore said in May that it had resolved investigations into separate bribery charges brought by authorities in the United States and Brazil. The company has set aside $1.5 billion to settle its legal cases, including the UK bribery action, it said Thursday.

☆ I’m a 23-year-old nanny for a wealthy family in Nantucket. I get to fly on private jets and document my daily adventures on TikTok.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Jenny Powers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Evellyn Singleton, 23, began working as a nanny for an affluent, Nashville-based family last fall. She watched their son, Jacob, during their vacation in Nantucket and posted about it on TikTok. Jacob's mom told me she was initially drawn to my profile because it really focused on who I was as a person rather than just listing my nanny experience. The family was living in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for the month, but they're based in Nashville during the rest of the year. Courtesy of Evellyn SingletonFlying is definitely part of the job, as Jacob's family enjoys travel.

☆ Elon Musk has added a new $78 million jet to his growing fleet of private planes. Take a look inside the Gulfstream G700, which is designed with a luxury suite and spacious bathroom.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, is a big fan of private jets — and he just added a new jet to his collection. Adrees Latif/ReutersAccording to a June report by the Texas-based news site Austonia, Musk has placed an order for the Gulfstream G700. The G700, which was launched in October 2019, is expected to replace his current jet, the G650ER, per the report. Musk regularly travels by private plane. In 2018, the billionaire flew more than 150,000 miles on his G650ER, per flight records obtained by the Washington Post.

☆ Glencore employees moved bribes cash by private jet, London court told
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Employees and agents of a British subsidiary of mining and trading group Glencore (GLEN.L) used private jets to transfer cash to pay bribes to oil officials in West Africa, prosecutors told a London court on Wednesday. Glencore Energy UK Limited paid – or failed to prevent the payment of – millions of dollars in bribes to officials in five African countries, Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) told Southwark Crown Court on the first day of a sentencing hearing. She told the court the unidentified Glencore employee was assisted by the company’s agent in Nigeria, from where the cash was withdrawn and transported to Cameroon often by private jet. Another unidentified employee also requested the withdrawal of $800,000 in cash from Glencore International AG’s cash desk in Switzerland before flying by private jet with a colleague to South Sudan, Healy said. Clare Montgomery, representing Glencore, said the company’s chairman Kalidas Madhavpeddi, who took up the post in 2021, was in court for the sentencing.

☆ Obama barnstorms Midwest in play to salvage Democrats' 'Blue Wall'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

MILWAUKEE — Barack Obama did the unthinkable in his 2008 presidential bid, turning out voters in droves to solidify a “Blue Wall,” with decisive wins in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. "Look, listen — hey, hold on, hold on — hold on, hold up — hold on a minute! In both Wisconsin and Michigan, Obama discussed reproductive rights for women. Obama dominated Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2008 and 2012, only for Donald Trump to capture those same states in 2016. The Senate race is tied.

☆ Twitter employees are leaving for tech rivals ahead of Elon Musk's planned takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Today, we're looking at a major side-effect of the drama surrounding Elon Musk's Twitter takeover: the employee exodus. Twitter is experiencing an employee exodus amid the Elon Musk deal. Meta and Google snap up Twitter employees. Amid the months-long saga between Twitter and Elon Musk, employees have been leaving in droves. Elon Musk pledges to close Twitter deal on time.

☆ See Honeywell's 40-year-old Boeing 757 the company uses for testing things like private jet engines and weather detection technology
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

"The engines that we make go on private jets," he said. "We have a big airplane so we can take that engine up in the air and expose it to all the elements and the environment that is up there." Where Honeywell engineers sit to monitor and collect data during test flights. Thomas Pallini/Insider

☆ Elon Musk and Donald Trump are trying new ways to dodge jet-tracking Twitter accounts — but its not a 'silver bullet'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Taylor Rains | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jet-tracker Jack Sweeney rocked the boat when he started posting Elon Musk's private jet flights on Twitter. Celebrities can block their jets on certain websites via a special federal program, but Sweeney says it doesn't help. Louis Vuitton CEO Bernard Arnault is one: He recently sold his private aircraft so "no one can see where I go." The program allows private aircraft owners to block their planes from being tracked by websites like FlightAware and FlightRadar24 because they use FAA data. Elon Musk's private jet flight with PIA flag, tracked by Jack Sweeney.

☆ Kim Kardashian misses Vegas birthday surprise after private jet couldn’t land
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Kim Kardashian was all set to take on Las Vegas for her 42nd birthday over the weekend, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. After a birthday dinner, she headed to the airport where a pair of Vegas showgirls offered a hint as to where she was headed on her sister Kylie Jenner’s private jet. “For the record… We did fly to Vegas and tried to land twice at two different airports,” she wrote in an Instagram story. On Sunday Kardashian shared a video of Usher wishing her happy birthday, saying that he “hated” that they didn’t make it and welcoming her with “open arms” the next time she wants to attend. Private jets belonging to celebs, including Jenner’s, have recently come under criticism by many for contributing to the climate crisis.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's private jet made 28 trips in just 2 months, emitting 15 times more carbon than the average American does in a year, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Meta CEO's private plane made 28 trips in less than two months, flight data shows. In 28 trips between August 20 and October 15, Zuckerberg's plane released more than 253 tons of carbon, data compiled by Fox News showed. By comparison, the average American has an annual carbon footprint of 16 tons, according to environmental non-profit The Nature Conservancy. Sweeney previously declined $5,000 from Elon Musk to stop tracking his private jet. Musician Taylor Swift has also drawn criticism for her frequent use of private jet travel.

☆ People who live next to an LA airport frequented by jet-setters are complaining about the fumes getting worse
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

More and more private jets, as well as charter planes, are using the Van Nuys Airport in LA, creating more fumes. VNY, the call letters for Van Nuys Airport, is a general aviation airport, meaning it's for public use, and does not usually have commercial service. Another San Fernando Valley resident told the LA Times she wouldn't let her son go outside because of the fumes. In 2020, there was a 300% increase year over year in first-time private jet fliers, Robb Report reported. Gutierrez-Hedges said she wanted to see a curfew for private jet take-offs and landings, and a study on the air quality.

☆ SpaceX rolls out Starlink internet service for private jets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX is expanding its satellite internet unit's foray into in-flight WiFi services with the rollout on Wednesday of Starlink Aviation, offering customers a $150,000 airplane antenna amid mounting competition for airborne connectivity. Starlink, SpaceX's growing network of thousands of internet satellites, will charge customers seeking broadband internet on private jets between $12,500 to $25,000 a month for the service, on top of a one-time $150,000 hardware cost, the company said on its website. Starlink Aviation will begin delivering terminals in mid-2023, it said on its website, with reservations requiring a $5,000 payment. OneWeb on Tuesday announced an agreement with in-flight broadband giant Panasonic Avionics, which offers service to some 70 airlines, to market and sell OneWeb's broadband service to airlines by mid-2023. SpaceX plans to offer Starlink internet connectivity to Hawaiian Airlines planes next year.

☆ SpaceX rolls out Starlink aviation product for satellite internet to private jets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SpaceX rolled out aviation-specific Starlink satellite internet service on Tuesday, with Elon Musk's company looking to expand further into the inflight WiFi market. Deliveries to aviation customers are scheduled to "start in mid-2023," the company said, and reservations require a $5,000 initial payment. SpaceX said it is seeking Federal Aviation Administration certificates for a variety of aircraft, most of which are typically owned and operated as private jets. As for the quality of the service, SpaceX says Starlink aviation customers can expect speeds up to 350 Megabits per second, "enabling all passengers to access streaming-capable internet at the same time." But the company's aviation service does not require a long-term contract, with SpaceX saying "all plans include unlimited data" and the "hardware is under warranty for as long as you subscribe to the service."

☆ Twitterverse vigilance scares LVMH CEO into dumping his private plane
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Renault, 73, the world’s second-richest man with a net worth of over $149 billion, said he has sold his private jet because he was Twitter-shamed over his frequent plane use. “Indeed, with all these stories, the group had a plane and we sold it,” Arnault told an LVMH-owned radio station, on Monday. “It’s not very good that our competitors can know where we are at any moment,” Antoine Arnault told the radio station. Elon Musk tried to pay off a 19-year-old from Florida to stop tracking his private jet use. Jack Sweeney rejected the $5,000 offer from Musk to delete his Twitter account that tracks the Musk’s private jet journeys.

☆ Influencers Are Getting Rich by Hawking Dubious Financial Advice
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

On TikTok and YouTube, "passive income" side-hustles have skyrocketed in popularity. On TikTok and YouTube, influencers are getting rich while spreading dubious financial advice for how to make money fast — and failing to give viewers a full picture of the risks involved. Followers can make hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars in passive income by renting out property, day-trading, or dropshipping, influencers say. Instead, creators sell courses that promise to teach people how earn money through passive income — helping them get rich while selling the dream of easy cash. These financial influencers are drawing in a lot of young people: A recent survey found that 34% of Gen Z consumers obtain financial advice from TikTok, while only 24% of this age group seek advice from financial advisors.

☆ Gulfstream Aerospace weighs G550 replacement for special missions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct 17 (Reuters) - General Dynamics Corp's (GD.N) Gulfstream Aerospace is weighing one of its business jets to replace its popular G550 aircraft which is now out of production for special mission purposes, President Mark Burns said on Monday. Governments are eying "special mission" business jets capable of looking or listening at potentially lower running costs than converted passenger or military planes. The rising demand for small jets with systems once reserved for bigger planes has energised a market led by Gulfstream, which faces challenges from rivals Bombardier (BBDb.TO) and France's Dassault Aviation SA (AM.PA). In September, Canada's Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) said the company's defense business involving special mission private jets could grow to a possible $1 billion in annual revenues from a 'fraction' of it right now. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Allison Lampert in Orlando, Fla.

☆ The world's second-richest man, Louis Vuitton's CEO, sold his private jet after people started tracking it on Twitter: 'No one can see where I go'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bernard Arnault said LVMH sold its private jet after Twitter accounts started tracking it. Antoine Arnault argued that a private plane gives executives an edge in the race to be first to a new product or deal. "We haven't found anything better than a private plane to win that race every day and be just a small step ahead of our competitors," he added. Arnault is not the only billionaire to come under fire in recent months for private jet usage. Other public figures have expressed safety concerns over the sharing of flight data on social media.

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