The One Luxury These Billionaires Say They Can’t Live Without

Forbes

Billionaires have been known to indulge in just about every luxury imaginable: Picassos. Diamonds. Private concerts by A-list pop stars. Super yachts with cinemas, spas and submarines. Trips to space.  Because there’s almost nothing a three-comma fortune can’t buy, billionaires are often accustomed to owning the best of the best of whatever they want. But Forbes wanted to know what indulgence they view as absolutely essential. So this winter, we surveyed many of the world’s billionaires on the one luxury they can’t live without, with 40 responding.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicahunter-hart/2025/06/14/the-one-luxury-these-billionaires-say-they-cant-live-without/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, the one luxury these billionaires say they can't live without.

00:07Billionaires have been known to indulge in just about every luxury imaginable.

00:11Picassos, diamonds, private concerts by A-list pop stars, super yachts with cinemas, spas and

00:18submarines, trips to space. Because there's almost nothing a three-comma fortune can't buy,

00:24billionaires are often accustomed to owning the best of the best of whatever they want.

00:29But Forbes wanted to know what indulgence they view as absolutely essential. So this winter,

00:34we surveyed many of the world's billionaires on the one luxury they can't live without,

00:38and 40 billionaires responded. The most common answer by far was a private jet,

00:44which a dozen respondents chose. After that, three listed their phones. A couple shout-outs apiece

00:51went to prestige cars, second homes, and yes, air conditioning. And two listed their wives,

00:57Charles Koch, the chairman of Koch Inc., whose estimated net worth is $67.5 billion,

01:03wrote, quote, Liz for 57 years. Stephen Smith, founder of Canada's First National Financial,

01:11and whose net worth is $6 billion, said, hella skiing. One anonymous respondent,

01:17fittingly wrote, quote, privacy. Though 12 is a small sample, hundreds of other billionaires own

01:24private jets. So why do they put such a high premium on their planes? In most cases, it's about

01:30saving time. The process of traveling to a commercial airport, passing through security,

01:36boarding, and taxiing typically takes several hours, even without delays. A private jet, meanwhile,

01:42can be ready in minutes. Not only can those passengers just show up and go, but they also

01:48have far more options for where to take off and land. Texas, for example, has 389 public-use airports,

01:55according to its transportation department. Only 25 of those, 6%, are commercial airports.

02:03Billionaire David Hoffman, who invests in dozens of businesses from luxury transportation to real estate,

02:08says, quote, we have a large number of locations and it would be impossible to get to them without

02:13a private plane. Hoffman is based in Naples, Florida, but has entities across the country

02:19in places like San Diego, Minneapolis, Seattle, and St. Louis. Samir Mane, a retail and real estate

02:27entrepreneur, agrees and says, quote, I bought a jet because we don't have good flight connections to

02:32many of the countries where we operate. Mane, who is Albania's first billionaire, is based in

02:38Tirana. Visiting his retail outfits in Sarajevo takes 20 minutes via private jet, he says, but would

02:44require a full day if he flew commercially. He says, quote, if I were based in London, Frankfurt,

02:50or Vienna, I wouldn't need a jet since the flight connections from those cities are excellent.

02:56Hugh Chatham, VP of sales at plane brokerage CFS Jets, explains, quote,

03:01a lot of these companies would struggle to operate if they didn't have their executives getting in and

03:06out of meetings across the country on the same day. Or as real estate investor Larry Connor put it in

03:13his survey response, quote, it's not a luxury, it's a business tool. Four billionaires wrote that their

03:20private plane was the most expensive item they'd ever bought in answer to a separate survey question.

03:26Planes tend to depreciate 5 to 10 percent every year, says Chatham, but most prices in the resale

03:31market doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic and have stayed high since. Now, pre-owned jets can

03:38cost as little as $1 million for a small basic craft or as much as $75 million for one in the top

03:44tier, like Bombardier's Global 7500. New planes can go up to about $80 million for a business jet,

03:52though some billionaires have bought commercial-sized airliners that stretch even higher.

03:56The standard Global 7500 is a long-range jet that can handle non-stop flights across the world

04:03and includes a four-zone cabin, which means that passengers have separate spaces to work,

04:09eat, sleep, and lounge. Billionaire brothers Lorenzo and Frank Ferita each own one that they bought in

04:152020 and that are now worth $55 million a piece, Chatham estimates. For full coverage,

04:23check out Monica Hunter Hart's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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