Billionaire Bernard Arnault and his LVMH, home of more than 75 luxury brands, is investing $800 million into Flexjet via L Catterton.
Private aviation has gained another high-profile investor, following the $800 million equity investment by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the world’s eighth wealthiest person, in Flexjet, Inc.
Flexjet described it as the “largest equity investment ever committed to a private jet travel provider.”
Arnault is chairman and CEO of LVMH, which houses over 75 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany & Co., Dom Perignon, Krug, Belmond, and Cheval Blanc.
In 2018, LVMH bought Belmond, home of luxury resorts, trains, and river barges for $3.2 billion as part of its bet on the luxury travel market.
This investment was via L Catterton, a finance group formed in 2016 by Catterton, LVMH, and Groupe Arnault.
The 20% stake in Flexjet, Inc. values the private jet company at around $4 billion.
Flexjet, Inc. includes Sentient Jet, FXAir, and an extensive MRO business.
Flexjet Chairman Kenn Ricci remains the largest shareholder and continues in the same role.
Ricci tells Private Jet Card Comparisons it took 232 days from start to finish to close the deal.
The deal is not connected to Flexjet’s oversubscribed $550 million bond from December 2025, according to Ricci, who remains the largest shareholder and continues as chairman.
Ricci says, “We weren’t out seeking financing. We didn’t need financing. In fact, when they called, we weren’t in the capital markets.”
Ricci says the IPO, announced in 2022 and then withdrawn in early 2023, along with the bond, were intended to provide liquidity for Todd Boehly, a billionaire in his own right and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who invested with Ricci to buy Flexjet from Bombardier in 2014.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Revenue (Millions) | $1,844 | $2,680 | $3,473 | $3,355 | $3,835 |
| EBITDA (Millions) | $202.8 | $236.8 | $315.7 | $384.1 | $398.3 |
Source: Flexjet, Inc.
“That was really all about liquidity for Todd Boehly. This is a whole different vision,” Ricci says.
Boehly remains a shareholder in the company.
Ricci says he has wanted a partnership with LVMH since an email brainstorming session with Chief Strategy Officer Darnell Martens in 2008, following the acquisition of Flight Options from Raytheon.
Ricci founded Flight Options in 1998, before selling it to Raytheon in 2002 and then repurchasing it.
He says the investment from L Catterton is all about synergy between Flexjet, the second-largest flight provider behind NetJets, and LVMH brands.
In the official press release, Ricci said, “L Catterton, with its special relationship with LVMH and its family of brands, provides the perfect opportunity for collaborating in areas such as consumer insights, brand strategies, retail expansion, and luxury product delivery.”
Ricci declined to disclose specific plans.
In the last two years, Flexjet has collaborated with Bentley and Riva to design custom interiors for its flagship Gulfstream G650s and Sikorsky helicopters.
The alliances offer benefits to each other’s customers.
Belmond recently added a Dior spa to one of its Belmond luxury trains.
LVMH has extended its Bvlgari jewelry brand into a chain of ultra-luxury hotels, collaborating with Marriott International.
It has also launched luxury residences in collaboration with real estate developers, utilizing its Fendi fashion brand.
Luxury brands are increasingly expanding into various categories.
Privately held Chopard, whose jewelry is often spotted on the red carpet, has opened a private hotel in Paris.
You can only enter the hotel if you are a guest.
Ricci says after the investment, the next move for Flexjet is not about chasing NetJets for volume.
He sees the Flexjet brand evolving so that fractional owners feel they are part of a private club.
Ricci cites Augusta National as an example, where even if you stop playing golf, you never resign your membership.
“You want to believe it’s something special, so you don’t want to see a huge growth. Whatever we do has to be somewhat aspirational. It can’t be available to everybody,” he says.
He noted that Flexjet has held three Chairman’s Club events in recent months, and a number of customers attended all three.
Luxury travel and the luxury of health and wellness are expected to be key pillars of the approach.
Ricci continues, “I don’t need my competitors to fail, for me to succeed. In fact, to some extent, I don’t even want all my competitors’ business. I want a particular type of business that I’m focused on.”
In terms of where the rubber hits the road, with product, Ricci envisions continuing to separate his private flight provider brands into distinct swim lanes.
Flexjet offers fractional ownership and leases, while Sentient Jet focuses on jet cards, and FXAir provides on-demand charter flights and memberships.
Earlier this year, the company rebranded PrivateFly to FXAir in Europe.
Ricci also wants to learn from LVMH and Arnault’s team.
“They’ll teach me a lot of this, because they know a lot about our brand and stuff,” Ricci says, adding, “I don’t pretend to know what they know about how to brand, and price, and position.”
Travel, experiences, and exclusivity will be key themes.
In terms of one potential canvas, the press release highlights that the brand currently operates 11 private terminals or has them under development.
The terminals are located in key locations, including busy airports such as London, England; Palm Beach and Naples, Florida; Van Nuys in Los Angeles; and Westchester County and Teterboro, outside New York City.
Flexjet has also been focused on building its long-haul fleet, and is expected to unveil its first Gulfstream G700 in September.
The February $7 billion deal with Embraer is tilted towards the stand-up cabin Praetor 500 and Praetor 600, rather than the entry-level Phenom 300 light jet.
Ricci has also been building out last-mile solutions in congested cities laden with UHNWs via his helicopter division.
Flexjet Helicopter enables customers to utilize fractional hours for helicopter flights, landing on rooftop helipads, and even in their backyards.
In 2023, Flexjet launched the Red Label Training Academy.
The strategy is to differentiate Flexjet from NetJets beyond the contractual hourly rates, monthly management fees, fuel variables, and service areas.
“When we created Red Label, we saw NetJets as a very utilitarian, great provider, good service, but a utilitarian company. I always call them the Greige company, they’re gray and beige,” Ricci says.
If the play is to appeal to the premium private flyer who wants something a bit beyond an uneventful and on-time departure, Ricci believes he is on the right track.
“They’ll never make the NetJets brand bespoke, because they have the Residence Inn, Marriott, and the Ritz-Carlton all rolled up into one brand,” Ricci says.
Somewhat ironically, Ricci credits NetJets owner Warren Buffett for enabling his entry into the fractional market.
In March, he told an NBAA webinar:
‘As an entrepreneur, you always think every idea you come up with is brilliant…The idea of fractional in the mid-90s with used aircraft was my idea. We went out to banks because you have to have a core fleet…If two people buy an airplane, you need two airplanes in case they want to fly at the same time…We estimated we needed about $60 million to $80 million for core fleet buying used aircraft. We went out to the banks with my great idea…and maybe we had $7 million, $10 million in debt available. Nobody understood at the bank where’s my security…Then, in 1998, Warren Buffett bought NetJets. And every bank I had been to thought I was a genius all of a sudden. And they were all looking to get into the industry and we had $500 million. In some way, but for Warren endorsing our industry, I never would have found the debt capital to be able to build the inventory and go as fast as I did.’
While NetJets has over 800 aircraft in its fractional fleet, compared to just over 300 for Flexjet, when it comes to long-range jets, the two are much closer, with 83 to 68 tails.
Separately, Ricci addressed tariffs and the potential impact on his order with Embraer, which is headquartered in Brazil.
President Donald J. Trump earlier this month announced that he would assess a 50% tariff on imports from the South American nation in retaliation for how the current government is treating its former leader and Trump ally, Jair Bolsonaro.
Ricci tells Private Jet Card Comparisons, “We’re in a world where we just read the headline, and we come to an immediate conclusion based on seven words. 50% tariff on Brazil. Oh my God, poor Embraer.”
Ricci continues, “Has anybody looked at the airplane? The airplane is about 22% Brazilian (made). The engines, flight control systems, and landing gears are all from the U.S.; none of these components come from Brazil.”
He points out, “The tariff works based on the makeup of the aircraft. If you’ve ever seen the system, it’ll tell you the percentage of the airplane that comes from what country. It’s not like a $25 million Praetor 600, it’s going to cost $37.5 million.”
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