Mark Zuckerberg, the Pilot

Mark Zuckerberg appears to be training to become a pilot, having received his student pilot certificate earlier this year, according to the Information. If Zuckerberg obtains his license, he would join the list of tech CEOs who have gotten their wings, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Snap’s Evan Spiegel and Twitter’s Elon Musk, with whom Zuckerberg has been feuding in recent weeks regarding the launch of Threads. Zuckerberg and Musk have also discussed fighting each other in a cage match on social media.

The Meta executive has taken up a series of extracurricular activities since starting his company. In May, he competed in his first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament, where he won gold and silver medals. During the pandemic, he practiced foiling, or a form of surfing where the board lifts the rider above the surface of the water. In years past, he learned Mandarin, ramped up his reading and became vegetarian, except for allowing himself to eat meat from the animals he killed as a way to exercise gratefulness. The hobbies help Zuckerberg maintain a healthy lifestyle while running his multi-billion dollar company.

The student flight certificate isn’t difficult to obtain, according to Flying Magazine. A student must be at least 16 years old, communicate in English fluently and complete a health examination from the Aviation Medical Examiners. To receive a private pilot license, Zuckerberg must practice flying with a certified instructor and alone, pass a written exam and pass a flying test. The cost of getting the license varies from $10,000 to $20,000, which is a drop in the ocean for Zuckerberg, who is worth $113 billion.

Zuckerberg’s new flying ambitions follow those of other tech executives. Altman received his pilot’s license in 2010, according to the Information. Spiegel is approved to fly a helicopter, and Musk owns a variety of planes that he has become too busy to fly. Patrick Collison and John Collinson, brothers and co-founders of Stripe, are also reportedly frequent fliers.

Back in the office, Meta is preparing to announce its earnings over the past three months. The company recently launched its text-based social media platform intended to compete with Twitter. Despite receiving 100 million sign-ups, Threads is reportedly dropping daily active users. Meta is also continuing to develop its artificial intelligence technologies—and convince shareholders the division is worth investing in. The company will release earnings information and discuss its business plans with investors on July 26.