What’s Kenn Ricci’s Internet Price?
Kenn Ricci is an American aviation entrepreneur, pilot, investor, and philanthropist who has a internet value of $1 billion. Kenn Ricci is finest generally known as the founder and principal of Directional Aviation Capital and as chairman of Flexjet, one of many main personal aviation corporations on the earth. Over a profession spanning greater than 4 a long time, Ricci has constructed, acquired, financed, and restructured corporations throughout practically each nook of personal aviation, together with fractional jet possession, jet playing cards, constitution, plane upkeep, aviation finance, remanufacturing, simulation coaching, and air ambulance companies.
Ricci’s enterprise empire consists of or has included manufacturers corresponding to Flexjet, Sentient Jet, PrivateFly, FXAIR, Company Wings, Nextant Aerospace, Fixed Aviation, Simcom, Stonebriar Business Finance, and Reva Air Ambulance. His largest and most precious asset is Flexjet, which raised $800 million in 2025 in an funding spherical that valued the corporate at $4 billion. The spherical was led by L Catterton, the personal fairness agency backed by LVMH, with participation from KSL Capital Companions and J. Safra Group. Ricci remained Flexjet’s chairman and largest shareholder after the funding.
Early Life
Kenneth C. Ricci grew up within the Cleveland, Ohio, space and developed an early fascination with aviation. He attended the College of Notre Dame, the place he was an Air Drive ROTC cadet. Though he would later turn out to be one of the crucial profitable personal aviation entrepreneurs on the earth, his profession started with a extra simple objective: he wished to fly.
Ricci turned an airline transport pilot and accrued greater than 6,000 hours of flight time. His flying profession included intensive worldwide expertise, and in 1992 he served as Governor Invoice Clinton’s pilot throughout Clinton’s presidential marketing campaign.
Company Wings
Ricci began his first firm, Company Wings, in 1980. What started as a small aviation companies enterprise turned the inspiration for a a lot bigger profession in personal aviation. Somewhat than limiting himself to at least one a part of the market, Ricci spent the next a long time figuring out fragmented or underdeveloped aviation sectors and constructing corporations round them.
Company Wings gave Ricci a foothold in plane administration, constitution, upkeep, and personal flight operations. It additionally established the sample that may outline his enterprise life: combining operational information as a pilot with monetary engineering, customer support, and aggressive deal-making.
Directional Aviation
Ricci ultimately created Directional Aviation Capital, a non-public funding agency targeted on aviation companies. By Directional, he constructed one of many largest collections of personal aviation corporations within the business. The agency owns or invests in companies together with Flexjet, Sentient Jet, PrivateFly, Tuvoli, Nextant Aerospace, Stonebriar Business Finance, Reva Air Ambulance, Company Wings, Simcom, and Fixed Aviation.
Directional’s technique has been to regulate a number of elements of the personal aviation ecosystem. Flexjet serves fractional plane homeowners and lease clients. Sentient Jet focuses on jet playing cards. PrivateFly and associated platforms serve on-demand constitution clients. Fixed Aviation and different upkeep companies assist help fleet operations. Stonebriar offers aviation and gear finance. Collectively, these holdings gave Ricci publicity not simply to folks flying personal, however to the infrastructure behind personal aviation.
Flexjet
Ricci’s best-known firm is Flexjet. The model was initially launched by Bombardier in 1995 as a fractional jet possession enterprise. Directional Aviation acquired Flexjet in 2013, and Ricci helped reposition it as a luxury-focused competitor to NetJets.
Flexjet presents fractional jet possession, leasing, jet playing cards, helicopter packages, and associated personal aviation companies. The corporate has invested closely in its Crimson Label program, devoted flight crews, custom-made interiors, personal terminals, and a extra hospitality-driven expertise for rich clients. Flexjet has additionally expanded internationally and moved into bigger plane as demand has shifted towards longer-range personal flights.
In 2025, Flexjet raised $800 million in what the corporate described as the biggest fairness funding ever dedicated to a non-public jet journey supplier. The deal valued Flexjet at $4 billion, up from the $3.1 billion valuation tied to an earlier SPAC transaction that was later deserted. Flexjet mentioned the brand new funding would help fleet modernization, international growth, infrastructure, and a extra bespoke luxurious journey expertise.
Different Aviation Companies
Past Flexjet, Ricci has been concerned in a number of main aviation ventures. He based Nextant Aerospace, an organization targeted on plane remanufacturing. Nextant’s mannequin concerned taking current plane and rebuilding them with trendy avionics, engines, interiors, and efficiency upgrades, providing clients a lower-cost different to purchasing a brand new plane.
Ricci additionally led the restructuring of Mercury Air Facilities, a $200 million firm that operated plane help services at 24 airports. In 2007, Mercury Air Facilities was bought to Macquarie Infrastructure Belief in a deal valued at $615 million.
His broader portfolio exhibits why Ricci is commonly described much less as a easy operator and extra as an aviation business architect. He has constructed corporations round flying, financing, sustaining, refurbishing, reserving, and supporting personal plane.
Philanthropy
Ricci has been a significant donor to the College of Notre Dame, his alma mater. In 2017, he and his spouse, Pamela, made a $100 million unrestricted dedication to the college via their household basis. The present was one of many largest in Notre Dame’s historical past and was notable as a result of it was unrestricted, which means the college may use the cash for its highest priorities reasonably than for a narrowly outlined function.
Ricci has additionally supported medical, instructional, and civic causes, particularly in Ohio and thru aviation-related organizations.
Awards and Recognition
Ricci was named an Ernst & Younger Entrepreneur of the Yr in 2000 and has been acknowledged as one of the crucial influential folks in aviation by Aviation Worldwide Information. In 2010, he obtained Harvard Enterprise College’s Dively Entrepreneurship Award, and in 2011 he turned the youngest recipient of the William A. “Invoice” Ong Memorial Award for achievement and repair generally aviation.
In 2015, his work with Nextant Aerospace earned an Aviation Week Laureate Award. In 2017, Ricci obtained the Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award from the Dwelling Legends of Aviation. The award was later renamed in his honor, and in 2019 he was inducted as a Dwelling Legend of Aviation.
Private Life
Kenn Ricci is married to Pamela Ricci. The couple has been intently related to Notre Dame philanthropy and different charitable efforts. Ricci has remained based mostly within the Cleveland space whereas constructing a world aviation enterprise. Regardless of his wealth, he has continued to explain himself firstly as a pilot and aviation entrepreneur, along with his fortune largely constructed from the business he entered out of ardour reasonably than as a purely monetary pursuit.
All internet worths are calculated utilizing information drawn from public sources. When supplied, we additionally incorporate personal suggestions and suggestions obtained from the celebrities or their representatives. Whereas we work diligently to make sure that our numbers are as correct as attainable, except in any other case indicated they’re solely estimates. We welcome all corrections and suggestions utilizing the button under.
