The Gulfstream family of aircraft is commonly used by A-listers for private jets. The manufacturer boasts a fleet of aircraft ranging from the G300, with a range of 3,600 nautical miles and high-speed cruise capabilities of Mach 0.84, to the G800, with a dramatically increased range of 8,200 nautical miles and the ability to hit Mach 0.90. Gulfstream prides itself on creating luxurious aircraft for business travel, and the Gulfstream IV in particular is one of the more iconic models in its catalog. It’s not one of the newer ones, though, with production beginning in the 1980s. The civilian jet is capable of flight at up to Mach 0.80, and boasts a range of approximately 4,150 nautical miles. On its introduction, it debuted twin Tay 611-8 engines from Rolls-Royce, offering a total of 27,700 pounds of thrust. 

1993’s GIV SP (Special Performance) model upgraded elements like the brakes and wheels, as well as giving fliers more freedom to customize the model and carry more weight. Some celebrities prefer newer private jets like the Gulfstream G650, but the IV and its SP variant are still quite popular. Though it’s no longer produced, it continues to have a sizable celebrity following, with some superstars from a range of fields, from the biggest actors to the most celebrated athletes, owning one or previously having owned one. From Floyd Mayweather to Oprah Winfrey, let’s take a look at these stars and the planes they fly in. 

Tom Cruise has everything you could ask for in a private jet owner. For one thing, the “Mission Impossible” superstar is absurdly wealthy. According to AOL in April 2026, his net worth stands at approximately $600 million, and he signed a deal that month for $135 million to return to the role of Maverick in the upcoming third Top Gun movie. This is perhaps the highest-paid Hollywood role ever, and underscores the fact that Cruise is quite the airplane enthusiast, just like Maverick himself.

Unsurprisingly for the impetuous Cruise, who is well-known for performing his own stunts in his movies, he is a registered pilot (though he did not fly Top Gun’s legendary F-14 himself). Tom Cruise owns several aircraft, and one of the coolest in his fleet is a Gulfstream IV. 

The model has a Jacuzzi and a private little cinema room, Forbes reported in 2012, and was reportedly an ostentatious wedding gift (costing a cool $20 million) for Cruise’s third wife Katie Holmes. Though the pair are no longer married, they certainly spent considerable time in the air while they were together. In 2007, The Sunday Times reported that while they lived together in Beverley Hills, Holmes was playing the role of Jackie Truman in the movie “Mad Money,” which was being filmed about 1,500 miles away in Louisiana. That’s quite a commute, but then-husband and avid aviator Cruise had stepped in by taking her there in his Gulfstream IV. This being Tom Cruise, he didn’t simply accompany her on the flight but took on the pilot’s role himself. 

Oprah Winfrey’s gigantic net worth, according to Forbes, stands at $3.4 billion. She bought her first private aircraft, a Gulfstream IV, in 1991, for $25 million. She did so after an encounter with a fan at a commercial airport, she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. The fan had accused her of being unfriendly, not offering a warm embrace as she famously does on her show. “I stood up and I gave her a hug and then I went to the phone and called my lawyer,” she stated. “This is going to be my last time waiting four hours in the Chicago O’Hare Airport.'”

The Gulfstream model was used by Oprah for some years, with an incident in December 2005 in which the aircraft was just beginning a flight from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport in California when it was seemingly struck by a bird and grounded until its windshield underwent essential repairs. Later that month, it was concluded that the cause of the damage was different. John Ahlman, Battalion Chief with the Santa Barbara City Fire Department, reported, according to Today, “There was no bird involved, but the pilot did tell my captain that he felt it was a fatigue thing with the glass.” Whether she was unsettled by the experience or simply wanted a different aircraft, she replaced her first Gulfstream with a Bombardier Aerospace Global Express XRS in 2006.

Later, Oprah would add other aircraft to her fleet. They would include, Jettly goes on, several newer Gulfstream models. Throughout the 2010s, she would acquire a G550, a member of the G650 family, and the G700. The latter was added to Oprah’s repertoire in 2024, a model that costs in the region of $70 million and was engineered to be fully customizable to the owner’s requirements. 

In 2018, the BBC reported that Floyd Mayweather reclaimed his crown as the highest-paid athlete on the planet. With a $275 million paycheck for his much-awaited bout as Conor McGregor, it’s no surprise at all that Money Mayweather has a private jet fleet of his own. He owns a Gulfstream IV registered as N305DG, which he demonstrated in an Instagram post from jetsace in October 2024. “Carbon fiber, come check this out,” Mayweather Jr. says from the tarmac, beckoning the camera closer and declaring the aircraft to be “not bad for a high school dropout.”

The exterior, naturally, is fully emblazoned with the former boxer’s brand. His name, Mayweather, is emblazoned across its body in bright red, with both nose and tail featuring the TMT logo. The Money Team, true to its name, represents the finer things, and this Gulfstream is just one private jet Mayweather has owned. He also has a Gulfsteam G650, and the famed “Air Mayweather” features a roomy interior, bright, opulent styling, and more than a few nods to Mayweather’s perfect boxing record. The Sun shared a showcase from Mayweather in 2018, gleefully revealing his attention to detail: Even the pilot’s uniform features a proud “50-0” legend on the sleeve. Needless to say, there have also been some very expensive cars in Floyd Mayweather’s collection.

Actor and poker player Dan Bilzerian isn’t a man to shy away from the limelight. In September 2014, he shared the fact that he had bought a Gulfstream IV. The announcement was posted on Instagram, accompanied by a dramatically-lit nighttime photograph of the aircraft. His father, apparently, was not so impressed. Bilzerian joked on the post, “I told my Dad I bought this G4, he said ‘congratulations son, by your age I had 3.'”

The plane, as is common with private jets, was soon detailed to take his tastes into account. Registration numbers, a little like vanity plates on cars, can be customized somewhat to suit their owner, and Bilzerian left his own mark on his model with the registration N701DB, emblazoning his own name upon it. 

With that complete, there was another important registration job to take care of. Bilzerian’s GOAT Airways, tying in with his branding in other business ventures, was used to register the aircraft, and so the tail of the aircraft was emblazoned with the goat design. Bilzerian posted on Facebook in November 2014 that this was added during a weekend stay in Los Angeles. In 2020, the model was outfitted in a sleek all-black look. Having been originally manufactured in 1987, perhaps it’s no surprise that Bilzerian felt it was time for a new look.

Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez made $275 million in his decade with the New York Yankees alone, and according to Times of India, his shared net worth with Jaclyn Cordeiro stands at approximately $353 million. When A-Rod travels for appearances, to support his business concerns, and so on, he has done so in a Gulfstream IV, among other aircraft.

The baseball maestro has, in fact, owned multiple Gulfstream IVs. In February 2009, the New York Post reported that a 1987 model co-owned by A-Rod and his pilot, Craig Frost, had been put up for sale. The pair sought $16-$20 million for it. The whole affair, however, did not dampen Rodriguez’s enthusiasm for the plane, which is clear when you consider how he outfitted his second Gulfstream IV. Sports Illustrated was given a window into the luxury that awaits, reporting in June 2019 that it boasts “10 plush seats and a bed, as well as endless healthy snacks arrayed next to a single white orchid, WiFi, delicious shrimp cocktail and salmon filets served on green-rimmed Limoges china, and a smooth sound system that plays Rodriguez’s favorite bands.”

It’s undeniably luxurious, but Rodriguez’s plush plane is also a necessity. Because of business commitments, the magazine goes on, he was spending approximately three weeks out of every year in flight, and it would have been difficult for a celebrity of his status to navigate busy public airports that much.