Friday, October 12, 2007

Local boy makes good ? and how!

Off-and-on resident makes biggest single corporate jet purchase


PAUL TOUW

A longtime off-and-on Sun Valley resident who's now building a large home north of Ketchum has sent a small sonic boom through the corporate aviation world with what is said to be the largest single purchase of general aviation jets at any one time.

Paul Touw, founder and CEO of San Carlos, Calif.-based XOJET, has ordered 80 new midsize Bombardier Challenger 300 jets at a cost of some $1.9 billion and 30 of Cessna's top-of-the-line Citation X jets for $600 million—a total price tag of $2.5 billion.

When the last of the new aircraft is delivered in 2012, Tuow's company will have a fleet of 127 jets for lease, on-demand and a unique ownership plan.

His current fleet consists of 12 Citation Xs.

This could be the stereotypical "boy makes good" tale.

Touw (pronounced as the first syllable of "tower"), 42, has deep roots in the Wood River Valley.

He told the Mountain Express he moved here with his family when he was 12. His family owned farmland south of Bellevue and the Ketchum Spring Water Co. His father successfully sued the city of Ketchum for encroaching on his rights, remembers former Ketchum City Administrator Jim Jaquet. The city thereafter bought the water company as part of the city-owned system.

But Paul went off to school and became a periodic Sun Valley visitor while working in Silicon Valley.

However, he told the Mountain Express he's owned a house for several years here, and in July was married on a large plot of land north of Ketchum where he's building a sizeable home for more frequent use.

As for the name of Touw's firm, the XO is the abbreviation for the Navy title of "executive officer." XOJET spokesperson Alison McCauley explains XO is the company's metaphor for providing executive services to busy CEOs.




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