I used to be an F1 driver and even beat Ayrton Senna to three race wins… now I’m a multimillionaire aircraft dealer
THIERRY BOUTSEN is used to life in the fast lane – and now the former Formula One star is flying high as a multimillionaire aircraft dealer.
The now 65-year-old Belgian raced in F1 for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan.
He took to the track in 164 Grands Prix and beat the late, great Ayrton Senna on three occasions to claim a trio of victories.
Boutsen also achieved 15 podium finishes in total before retiring in 1993.
However, his career has continued to accelerate – albeit not on the race track.
Explaining all to Monaco Life, Boutsen said: “I honestly had no idea that private jets existed until I was 18-years-old.
“A family friend was CEO at Abelag (a private jet operator) in Brussels and he invited me to work there as a mechanic in the aircraft maintenance department. I enjoyed every minute of it – discovering these extraordinary flying machines.
“I was even invited on board to do a post maintenance test flight.That is when I promised myself, should I one day have earned enough money, I would buy and fly my own plane.
“I had to wait 12 years for that. Since then, flying has been a passion, like driving race cars.”
He continued: “I had no intention of starting a company in the beginning. I was always flying my own plane from racing event to racing event, or marketing event to marketing event, for private or business purposes.
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“Then I had a request in 1997 from a colleague of mine, former F1 driver Heinz Harald Frentzen, who wanted to buy the same plane I was using at the time but he didn’t know how to get it or how to complete the paper work etc. So, I said I would do it for him, and he ended up being my first customer.
“Immediately afterwards, I had a request from Keke Rosberg to buy a similar airplane for him; then I had to buy one for Mika Hakkinen, and then Michael Schumacher came to me and said he wanted to sell his Challenger.
“I did about 10 transactions, just in the racing world. I was doing the job as if it was for me – with a lot of passion, dedication and attention to detail. People loved it.
“So, we decided to go further and explore Europe. My wife Daniela and I started Boutsen Aviation: she was in charge of the marketing and presentation and I was in charge of the commercial side.
“At the end of 2000 we had our first employee, Dominique Trinquet – who is still with us today and is now president of the company. We have nine people working with us here in Monaco, and we have representatives in India, Russia, northern Europe, eastern Europe and Switzerland.”
Boutsen then revealed: “We have sold 385 planes to date, and every time we make a sale, we celebrate it is a success for the whole team. Our team in aviation is like a racing team – everyone is working together to get the job done and using their capabilities to 100 per cent, or sometimes even more. It will be a very important milestone when we get to 400, but it is due to the hard work of everybody of the company.
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“We have 16 planes for sale on an exclusive basis. We sell all types of business jets, but 70 to 80 per cent of our planes are transatlantic, like Challengers, Gulfstreams, Falcons… big planes that can travel from Nice to Los Angeles, for instance. We also sell biz-liners like the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) and Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ).
“These planes used to sell for between 20 and 35 million. Today, it’s between 15 and 25 million for exactly the same airplane. This is because the inventory has increased.
“During lockdown, some people wanted to get rid of their planes because they had no need for them. A plane is expensive to buy and maintain, so if you have one that just sits in a hangar for six months, it’s not worth it.”
But the icon’s future is very much not only in the air as he keeps busy with a number of other successful business interests.
He added: “I am also the Chairman of the Boutsen Group which includes Boutsen Design, run by my wife Daniela, to offer a bespoke and individual design and decoration service for business jets, superyachts and residences.
“I also run Boutsen Classic Cars, sourcing and selling high-end classic road and race cars for discerning collectors.
“Then we have the Boutsen Racing Team, and we compete all over the world.”