Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn jetted around the world on a series of $60 million Gulfstream private jets
- Carlos Ghosn flew around the world using a series of Nissan-owned Gulfstream private jets, reporting from the Wall Street Journal and records with the Federal Aviation Administration show.
- All of the Gulfstream jets Nissan acquired for Ghosn and other executives are known to have used the custom registration number N155AN.
- The current jet is a Gulfstream G650 that was delivered new to Nissan in 2016, FAA records show. It appears to have replaced a Gulfstream G550 jet the company had acquired in 2013.
For nearly two decades, Carlos Ghosn was one of the most powerful executives in the automotive industry. The French-Lebanese-Brazilian executive simultaneously served as the chairman and CEO of Renault, the chairman of Nissan, and the chairman of Mitsubishi Motors.
That's three car companies located on two continents halfway around the world from one another. As a result, Ghosn spent a considerable amount of time flying on Nissan's corporate jets between France and Japan, with frequent stopovers in the United States, Brazil, and Lebanon.
Nissan's corporate jets are known to use the custom registration number N155AN and appear to have been replaced every few years with a new one. The current jet bearing the N155AN registration is a Gulfstream G650, serial number 6187, FAA records show. The G650 can seat up to 19 passengers, sleep up to 10 passengers, can fly more than 8,000 miles, and can cost more than $67 million.
Nissan's G650 was delivered in May 2016 with financing via Wells Fargo in Utah, according to FAA filings.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Ghosn's Nissan jet flew out of more than 35 different airports on more than 80 travel days this year. The jet departed Beirut, Lebanon, eight times in the seven weeks prior to his November arrest, the Journal reported, citing flight records.
Little is known about the G650's interior appointments, but the WSJ report does indicate it is equipped with a bed.
Read more: I flew on a $61.5 million private jet, and now first class just won't do.
A spokesperson for Nissan declined to comment on the specifics of its corporate jets.
Before the G650, Nissan's corporate jet appears to have been a Gulfstream G550 with serial number 5241, FAA records show. The G550, which also cost more than $60 million new, carried the N155AN registration from March 2013 until it was replaced three years later, according to the FAA filings.
The G550 was then put on the secondhand market for $42.75 million and was eventually sold to Nike, which currently operates it using the registration N3546.
Before that, Nissan's corporate jet appears to have been another Gulfstream G550 with serial number 5029. That aircraft was apparently delivered to Nissan in 2004 before leaving the fleet in 2013.
Carlos Ghosn was arrested by Japanese authorities on November 19, shortly after landing at Tokyo Haneda Airport. According to Nissan, an internal investigation concluded that the longtime executive allegedly under-reported his income and misused corporate assets.