Private jets are so last year: Fintech entrepreneur John Collison is buying an airport

It used to be that the rich and famous lived the literal ‘high life’ by renting or buying private jets, but Stripe president and co-founder John Collison is taking things to another level.

Collison is part of a consortium looking to buy Weston Airport near Dublin in Ireland, as first exclusively reported by The Currency.

The Stripe billionaire earlier this year snapped up a €20m 1,100 acre estate only an hour from the airport.

Collison is an avid pilot himself, learning to fly at Weston Airport. In the last year he’s also chartered a private jet from Stripe’s headquarters in San Francisco back to Ireland, landing at the often overcrowded Dublin Airport.

The consortium, led by Irish financier Derick Walshe and several other “aviation enthusiasts”, hopes to dramatically improve Weston Airport for all travellers, presumably including those heading to San Francisco.

“Our investors… are focused on turning Weston into a state-of-the-art facility. Our plans are to invest in and upgrade the existing aviation and non-aviation facilities and to create a destination that is open and welcoming to the local community,” Walshe said in a statement.

“We are committed to revitalising Weston to the betterment of aviation in Ireland. We look forward to opening this next chapter in the story of Weston.” 

The deal has reportedly been in the works for months, and the airport’s existing owner Brian Conneely is being paid a multiple of the €3.5m he acquired the airport in 2013, according to The Currency.

In March Stripe was valued at $95bn during its last $600m funding round, both John and his CEO brother Patrick are known to be billionaires from their stakes in the business.

A spokesperson for the consortium confirmed Collison's involvement in the deal to AltFi.