Teen who tracked Elon Musk's plane launches Russian Oligarch Jets account
Teen who tracked Elon Musk's plane launches Russian Oligarch Jets account
Sweeney told Bloomberg he created Russian Oligarch Jets — @RUOligarchJets — after receiving requests as the U.S. and its allies unveiled sweeping sanctions on Moscow and its elite.
Russian Oligarch Jets has tracked the helicopters, private jets and commercial-sized airplanes of prominent Russians, including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, the nation's wealthiest person, according to Bloomberg.
“The aircrafts these oligarchs have are absolutely crazy,” Sweeney, 19, told Bloomberg, saying that Russia’s wealthy love to fly in commercial-sized aircraft such as the Airbus A319 and Boeing 737.
“Their planes are huge compared to other jets,” he added.
Reports emerged last month that Musk had offered Sweeney $5,000 to shut down a Twitter account that tracks his private flights.
“I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,” Musk said in the direct message to Sweeney, according to Protocol.
Sweeney also runs 15 flight-tracking accounts using a bot he created that automatically posts when a celebrity’s flight leaves or lands at an airport.
Sweeney’s account tracking Musk’s flights has the most followers, with more than 97,000, and its popularity led Musk to send a direct message to Sweeney.
“Any chance to up that to $50k?" Sweeney reportedly replied, apparently getting no response to his counteroffer. "It would be great support in college and would possibly allow me to get a car maybe even a Model 3.”
thehill.com |
