FOLLOW US

Jack Sweeney, 19, from Florida has been tracking Elon Musk’s private jet online since 2020. He also tracks He now has some interesting new aviation-themed targets. He uses Twitter to track Russian oligarchs.

Using Twitter accounts, he is tracking more than 40 planes and helicopters linked to Russian oligarchs. And he is asking others to help bolster the number of planes covered by the system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his invasion troops into Ukraine. And the West responded with crippling sanctions on the wealthy power brokers who are linked to the Kremlin.

The entrepreneurial teen says that when they were sanctioned, he received dozens of requests to track Russia’s richest. And now he is scanning the skies for Russian billionaire oligarchs.

Jet tracker apps use public data

The college student and aviation geek initially created 16 automated Twitter accounts, or bots, like the one tracking the SpaceX and Tesla CEO.

His first Twitter bots follow jets owned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban and the rapper Drake.

In order to “monetize” the service he created Ground Control. The website offers custom tracking services to celebrities’ superfans. And he hosts web versions of the Twitter bots if the microblogging site closes his accounts because of privacy concerns raised by the subjects.

His accounts have the legal rights to post jet whereabouts.  ADS-B data is public and every aircraft in the world is required to have a transponder. Twitter policy states that data found on other sites is allowed to be shared on Twitter.

Sweeney assures his customers he only does legal stalking.

Track Russian oligarchs

He launched two new automated Twitter handles — @RUOligarchJets and @Putinjet — following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two flight locator profiles have amassed over 400,000 followers combined. And they also provide nearly live monitoring and mapping of the private jets’ movements.  

Some of the jets tracked by the accounts include Chelsea Football Club Owner Roman Abramovich who was also called in by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to help negotiate peace talks.

He is tracking international billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov and Leonid Mikhelson, the chairman of Russian gas producer Novatek.

Sweeney said he is stunned by the size of planes the Russian oligarchs are flying around the globe.

“The aircrafts these oligarchs have are absolutely crazy,” Sweeney said. “The country’s richest are traveling on commercial-sized aircrafts like an Airbus A319 and Boeing 737. Their planes are huge compared to other jets.”

Still tracking Elon Musk

The account is still live that’s tracking Elon Musk. But Sweeney says he was ultimately “ghosted” by the billionaire.

Sweeney said it was a surreal experience when he received a direct message from Musk, whom he described as his idol.

 Musk had security concerns. “Can you take this down? It is a security risk,” Musk, DM’d the teenager. “I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase.”

The billionaire even offered the teen $5,000 to delete his twitter account. But Sweeney was looking for a bigger payday; he wanted $50,000. And Musk backed-out of the negotiations.

There is a standing offer from Sweeney to Musk. He says he will delete the tracker in exchange for a new Tesla Model 3.