Belgian GP star who raced against Michael Schumacher quit F1 to become aircraft dealer

Thierry Boutsen once raced alongside Formula One icons, but he is now a multimillionaire aircraft seller. The Belgian competed in F1 between 1983 and 1993, sharing the track in his final years with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle.

He raced for teams such as Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan across 164 Grands Prix. Boutsen claimed 15 podium finishes and even beat the legendary Senna on his way to achieving three race wins.

Now, aged 68, Boutsen's post-racing career as a businessman in the aviation industry has proven even more successful. Over the past 25 years, the Monaco-based former racer has amassed a fortune selling business jets.

In a 2020 interview with Monaco Life, Boutsen explained how his passion for aviation began: “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 went on to say: “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.

“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.”

Reflecting on his business achievements, he added: "We have sold 385 planes to date, and every time we make a sale, we celebrate it as 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."

“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.”

He also runs three other businesses: Boutsen Design, providing decoration services for business jets, superyachts and residences; Boutsen Classic Cars, which sources and sells premium classic road and race cars; and Boutsen Racing Team, which competes all over the world.