NetJets Is Not Publicly Traded; Berkshire Hathaway Shares Are the Closest Investment Route
Why It MattersFractional ownership's largest operator is financed through its parent's balance sheet rather than public markets, leaving investors with no direct way to value or trade private-aviation exposure.
NetJets Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway and has no publicly traded stock, no ticker symbol and no standalone market capitalization. The closest investment route for those seeking exposure to the company is buying Berkshire Hathaway shares (BRK.B).
Berkshire acquired NetJets Aviation, then called Executive Jet Aviation, in 1998 for approximately $711 million, with debt at that date of roughly $102 million. NetJets' estimated enterprise value today is between $9 billion and $11 billion, though Berkshire does not break it out independently. Aggregate pre-tax losses from 1998 to 2010 reached about $157 million, and debt rose to nearly $1.9 billion during the 2009 crisis, with Berkshire's balance sheet keeping the business alive.
NetJets pioneered fractional jet ownership and operates across the US, UK and Europe; roughly 40% of its customers are Fortune 500 companies. It employs over 9,000 people for safety operations and operates approximately 792 aircraft globally, with over 2,000 options for new private jets from Bombardier, Embraer and Textron Aviation. In 2024, pilots approved a deal valued at about $1.6 billion over five years, with base pay increases of about 52.5%. Berkshire's Q2 2025 filing showed aviation services revenue growth of about 9.6% year to date, driven by higher average rates and more flight hours.
Among access models, fractional ownership carries a high capital commitment and suits flyers of 200+ hours a year, alongside whole-aircraft ownership and ad-hoc charter. Jet card programs are typically sold in 25-hour and 50-hour prepaid blocks and suit regular flyers of 25 to 100 hours a year, with BlackJet cited as an alternative jet card provider.
