Bankrupt bitcoin miner Core Scientific (CORZ) paid $1.65 million last year to a company affiliated to CEO Mike Levitt that operates a private jet, bankruptcy court filings from last week showed.
The company made its last payment to Stone Tower Air LLC in October 2022, just before it stopped making debt payments to its lenders. The world’s largest bitcoin miner by computing power filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December.
Stone Tower Air flies an Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 600, according to Airfleets.net and other airplane tracking websites.
“For efficient travel and use of time, Stone Tower Air is a charter flight company used in the past by Core Scientific for primarily transporting employees, clients and potential clients between our data center sites in remote locations,” which are often far from major airports, Chief Mining Officer Russell Cann said in an emailed statement on Friday. He noted that the move not only saves the company money but also helps employees spend more time with their families.
Levitt “uses the company with his other businesses and because of this affiliation, Stone Tower Air provides Core Scientific with below-market rates for its charter services, Cann said.
While the private-jet travel was revealed in an earlier filing, stating that the company had reimbursed “certain officers and directors of the Company for use of a personal aircraft for flights taken on Company business,” the direct link to Levitt was not.
The U.S. bankruptcy code primarily defines “affiliated” persons as those that directly or indirectly own or control 20% or more of the voting power of a given company.
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