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01st Mar 2022

Teen tracking Musk’s private jet is now targeting Putin and Russian oligarchs

Charlie Herbert

Fighting the good fight

The teenager who became famous for tracking the private jets of the mega rich, including Space X billionaire Elon Musk, has now turned his gaze to Russian oligarchs amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Jack Sweeney hit the news earlier this year when he set up a Twitter account which told followers where Musk’s private jet was taking off from and landing at any given time.

This prompted Musk to offer the 19-year-old $5,000 to close the account but Sweeney refused, saying he’d only do it for $50,000.

Musk then rejected this counter-offer and blocked Sweeney.

https://twitter.com/ElonJet/status/1498364944441647108?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1498364944441647108%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ladbible.com%2Fnews%2Flatest-teen-is-tracking-russian-flights-following-russias-invasion-20220301

The teen then set up more plane tracking accounts for other billionaires, such as Bill Gates and Floyd Mayweather.

So it’s perhaps not surprising that he’s now tracking Russian oligarchs.

Russian Oligarch Jets has already got more than 100,000 followers and is tracking dozens of private jets, including six owned by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

https://twitter.com/RUOligarchJets/status/1498449340133785600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1498449340133785600%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ladbible.com%2Fnews%2Flatest-teen-is-tracking-russian-flights-following-russias-invasion-20220301

https://twitter.com/RUOligarchJets/status/1497739735753658371

He’s even set up another account specifically targeting Russian president Vladimir Putin’s jet.

However he admitted in a tweet that he doesn’t expect @PutinJet to work as accurately as his other accounts as the mandatory Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) coverage where Sweeney gets his data from isn’t great in Russia.

https://twitter.com/JxckSweeney/status/1497362271281958912?s=20&t=zsadoP1u7INAJjr-ewIanQ

Sweeney’s skills have not only earned him media attention but may also have secured him a career.

After hearing about his efforts tracking Musk’s private planes, private jet business Stratos Jet Charters offered the teen a place on their tech development team.

Speaking about the job offer, the University of Central Florida (UCF) student told the New York Post: “It was pretty cool. They’re UCF alumni, so it’s pretty interesting.

“There’s just a lot of UCF that think it’s cool.”

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