Thomas Flohr (born 17 March 1960) is a Swiss businessman, amateur racing driver, and billionaire.[1] He is the founder and chairman of VistaJet, a private jet charter company.[2]
As of March 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth to be US$2.3 billion.[3][4]
Early life
Flohr was born in Switzerland on 17 March 1960,[5][6] the son of a teacher.[7] He was raised in Erlenbach, Germany.[8] After school he applied unsuccessfully for flight training at Lufthansa.[8] He studied business and political science at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.[9]
Career
From 1985[10][11] until the early 2000s, Flohr worked for the Chicago-based technology firm Comdisco.[8][12] He was President of their European division from 1990 to 1994. He was President of Comdisco's worldwide asset finance division from 1995 to 2000. He would later buy out most of Comdisco's European operations through his Swiss-based group Comprendium Investment, which he still controls.[13]
Flohr was married to Katharina Flohr (néeKonečný), formerly creative director of Fabergé and editor of Russian Vogue.[19][20] They had one daughter together, Nina, who was the former brand director of VistaJet.[21][19] On 1 September 2020, the former Greek royal family announced the formal engagement of Miss Flohr with Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark, fifth child and third son of King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. The couple married in a civil ceremony in Saint-Moritz, Switzerland on 12 December 2020, with Thomas one of only two guests in attendance.[22]
Legal issues
In 2020, the United States Government announced intentions to seize property belonging to Flohr. The $22 million dollar mansion was the subject of scrutiny after its previous owner, an associate of Flohr's, was implicated in a major corruption scandal.[23]
In 2024, Vista’s founder Thomas Flohr alleged in legal filings that a rival company and Timothy Horlick, a British financier, had launched a smear campaign against Vista. Flohr claims that AirX founder John Matthews used a burner email address with a fabricated identity to send emails to business contacts of VistaJet, bypassing court-ordered confidentiality.
He also alleges Matthews created a WhatsApp group in March 2023, titled VistaComms, which was used to discuss with colleagues the use of burner emails to share confidential information about VistaJet with lenders, business partners, and journalists.[24]
