Teen tracks Russian oligarchs' private jets as Ukrainian conflict intensifies
Jack Sweeney discusses his tracking bot on ‘America’s Newsroom.’
Taylor Swift has sold one of her private jets for $40 million, according to a new report.
The pop sensation sold her Dassault Falcon 900LX on January 30 to Missouri-based car insurance company Car Shield, according to documents obtained by Daily Mail.
Swift reportedly purchased the jet for $40 million in 2011, but the plane is now estimated to be worth around $7million second-hand, the Daily Mail reported. She still owns the larger Dassault Falcon 7X, which is worth around $54million brand new and has been her primary mode of transportation during the international leg of her Eras Tour.
The 34-year-old singer-songwriter has been under pressure to cut down on her carbon emissions for years, especially as she travels around the world between tour shows and appearances to support boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce at his NFL games. In 2022, Swift topped the list of the worst celebrity private jet CO2 emission offenders, according to Yard, a sustainability marketing agency that prides itself on "cutting-edge data and analysis."
Swift is expected to travel from her concert in Tokyo and back to the U.S. on Sunday to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce in the Superbowl. The cabin height of the plane Swift sold is 6'2,″ a little short for Kelce, who stands at 6'5".
Fans have speculated how Swift will make the quick turnaround between her show in Tokyo and the Superbowl on Sunday. (Getty Images)
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The move to sell comes on the heels of news that Swift lawyers sent a letter to Jack Sweeney, a junior at the University of Central Florida, who tracked her flights and locations, to demand that he stop, the Daily Mail reported.
In addition to Swift, Sweeney also tracks the flight paths of planes and helicopters owned by celebrities, billionaires, politicians and other public figures using publicly available data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration to share the estimates of their cost and emissions.
"I think it's important to note that nowhere do I intend for harm. I actually think Swift has some good songs," Sweeney told Daily Mail. "I believe in transparency and public information."
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Swift's attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sweeney in December, blaming his automated tracking of her private jet for tipping off stalkers about her location, stating that "the timing of stalkers" suggests a connection to Sweeney’s flight-tracking sites, according to The Washington Post. Sweeney is also accused of "disregarding the personal safety of others"; "willful and repeated harassment"; and "intentional, offensive, and outrageous conduct and consistent violations of our client’s privacy."
The letter from her lawyers states that there is "no legitimate interest in or public need for this information, other than to stalk, harass, and exert dominion and control."
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Swift recently flew from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Kansas City marking her biggest trip to date, using 4,151 gallons of fuel and costing an estimated $23,250, according to Daily Mail. A spokesperson for Swift said the star was working to travel less frequently than she has in the past.
"Before the tour kicked off in March of 2023, Taylor purchased more than double the carbon credits needed to offset all tour travel," the spokesperson told the outlet.
Sweeney was suspended from Twitter, now X, in 2022 by Elon Musk, who said the sharing of real-time location information violated the platform’s terms of service and was dangerous for himself and members of his family. Sweeney's account has since been restored.
"Sweeney is an awful human being," Musk posted to Twitter Tuesday. "Taylor Swift is right to be concerned."
"This information is already out there, her team thinks they can control the world," Sweeney told the Daily Mail.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Sweeny repieterated that he has no intention to "cause harm."
"Firstly I'd like to clarify that my intentions are not to cause harm. In fact, I actually like some of Swift’s songs. But I believe in the importance of transparency and public information, seemingly more so than Meta. As Meta suspended my @taylorswiftjets
account on Instagram, Threads and Facebook. The accounts got suspended only hours after I received the letter from her team," Sweeney said.
He added how his other accounts that track the private jets of Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are still active on the social media platforms.
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This article was updated to include comments from Sweeney.
Fox News' Lawrence Richard and Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.