Outgoing Reckitt Benckiser boss joins the board of US sports plane maker Icon Aircraft
Bart Becht, the Reckitt Benckiser chief executive who took home a record �90m in 2009, has found a new outlet for his time and money ? a fledgling amphibious aircraft maker.
Becht, who is due to retire from the company that makes Cillit Bang and Durex in September, is thought to have invested several million dollars in Icon Aircraft, a Los Angeles plane-maker, and will sit on the board as a non-executive director.
The group, founded by former fighter pilot Kirk Hawkins, hopes to begin making its first model towards the end of 2012.
The two-person A5 will be able to land and take off from ground or from water. It can fly at up to 120mph and its wings can be folded so it can fit onto a trailer.
With an expected price tag of $140,000 (�88,000), the A5 will target the more affluent thrill-seeker.
As an investor in Icon, Becht, who has collected more than �220m from Reckitt since 2005, is in successful company. Other participants in the third and final round of a $25m fundraising include Google chairman Eric Schmidt; Phil Condit, a former chief executive of Boeing; and Satyen Patel, once Nike's head of Asia.
Their contribution gives Icon sufficient funds to fully develop the plane and prepare and commence production, albeit a year or two later than originally intended.
Hawkins, who set up the company in 2005 after completing an MBA at Stanford, said: "The unprecedented disruptions to capital markets during the past two years have challenged every aircraft company out there, and Icon is no exception. While these difficulties have delayed our production start, we're excited that those challenges are behind us now and we're funded through production.
"We are thrilled to have Bart Becht join our board of directors. His global business expertise is truly world class," he added.
Becht, who in 2009 transferred nearly all his stock options, worth about �110m, shocked the City in April when he unexpectedly called time on his 16-year tenure at Reckitt Benckiser. The household goods manufacturer's shares lost 7.5% of their value in a single day.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/28/cillit-bang-boss-bart-becht-icon-aircraft
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