Backing up the company’s latest European fleet expansion, Buffett told journalists at a packed Savoy hotel in London: “There’s as much money in Europe as there is in the US.

I can’t conceive of a Europe without thousands of owners, ten years from now.” The deal is worth a cool $400 million and Executive Jet will accept delivery of the first Excel this November, and the first Bravo in January 2002. To date, the company has committed over $1.3 billion in aircraft and resources to its European programme.