Jack Sweeney

Jack Sweeney (born 2002/2003) is an American programmer and entrepreneur. In 2022, he became known for creating Twitter bots to track the private jets of prominent individuals including Elon Musk and Russian oligarchs.

Life

In the beginning of 2022, Sweeney was a freshman at the University of Central Florida,[1] and was studying information technology. He intends to work in software engineering.[2]

As a teenager, he developed Twitter bots[3] to track and share the locations of the private jets of several individuals including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Donald Trump,[1] and Drake.[4] His program uses public data sources including the Federal Aviation Administration, OpenSky Network, and Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast.[1][5]

In June 2020, he created the "Elon Musk's Jet" Twitter account, dedicated to tracking Musk's private jet by using bots that scrape publicly available air traffic data.[6]

In November 2021, Musk requested that Sweeney stop tracking his private Gulfstream jet for $5,000, citing security concerns.[7] Sweeney responded that he might stop tracking his private jet in exchange for an internship, US$50,000, or a Tesla Model 3.[5][7]

In February 2022, Sweeney stated in an interview with Bloomberg Wealth that he was establishing a company called "Ground Control" that monitors flight activity of prominent billionaires.[8]

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweeney began tweeting the location of approximately 30 private jets belonging to Russian oligarchs.[2][9] In a March 2022 interview with CBS MoneyWatch, Sweeney stated his desire to see their planes seized.[2] Some oligarchs being tracked include Vladimir Putin, Len Blavatnik, Roman Abramovich,[2] Alexander Abramov,[4] Dmitry Rybolovlev, Arkady Rotenberg, Eugene Shvidler, Vladimir Potanin, Vagit Alekperov, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, Alisher Usmanov, Viktor Vekselberg, Leonid Mikhelson, Viktor Medvedchuk, Vladimir Lisin, Suleyman Kerimov, Oleg Tinkov, Yuri Linnik, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Mazepin, and Alexei Mordashov.[10]

References
  1. Dodds, Io (February 13, 2022). "Teenager who tracks Elon Musk's jet says he might stop in exchange for a new Tesla". The Independent. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  2. Picchi, Aimee (March 3, 2022). "Meet the American teen tracking Russian oligarchs' jets". CBS News. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  3. Abbany, Zulfikar, ed. (March 1, 2022). "How a teenager's Twitter tracks Russian oligarchs". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  4. Yang, Maya (March 1, 2022). "Teen who tracked Elon Musk's jet turns his attention to Russian oligarchs". the Guardian. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  5. Irwin, Veronica (January 26, 2022). "Elon Musk offered a college freshman $5k to delete a Twitter account". Protocol. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  6. Duffy, Kate (April 14, 2022). "'Oh no.' The teen behind the popular Twitter account that tracks Elon Musk's private jet reacts to the billionaire's proposal to buy the company". Business Insider. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  7. Maruf, Ramishah (January 30, 2022). "Elon Musk offered a Florida teen $5,000 to delete a Twitter account tracking his jet. It wasn't enough". CNN Business. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  8. Taylor, Amiah (February 1, 2022). "The teen who tracked Elon Musk's jet is now starting a business to monitor the flights of other billionaires". Fortune. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  9. Valinsky, Jordan (March 3, 2022). "The teenager who tracked Elon Musk's jet is now tracking Russian oligarchs". CNN. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  10. Marr, Madeleine (March 4, 2022). "He was tracking Elon Musk's jet. Now this Florida teen has moved on to Vladimir Putin". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
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