Alex Rodriguez is one of the most famous athletes and entrepreneurs in the world. Rodriguez is a former baseball player who played for several different professional teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). Rodriquez was born in New York City, New York, on July 27, 1975. He was introduced to baseball at an early age by his father, who played baseball in the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez was a standout in high school, when he attended school in Palmetto Bay, Florida.

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By 1993, he was considered to be the top high school prospect in the United States. He was even selected to try out for the US national baseball team, becoming the first high schooler ever to do so. After he graduated from high school in 1993, he was immediately selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 1993 MLB Draft as the first overall pick.

Rodriguez played minor league baseball for several years, from 1994 through 1995. Midway through the 1995 season, the Seattle Mariners called Rodriguez up to the big leagues as the youngest player in the MLB.

He was promoted to the starting shortstop the following year. Rodriguez found immediate success in the MLB. He led the entire American League (AL) in batting average, as he recorded a .358 batting average. He also hit for 36 home runs and 123 RBIs in his first season.

Rodriguez’s success for the Mariners continued for several years, even becoming the youngest player to record 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. However, after the 2000 season, Rodriguez became a free agent. Rodriguez signed with the Texas Rangers, signing a 10-year deal for over $250 million. This was the highest paying contract in sports history.

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As a Ranger, Rodriguez continued to impress, even hitting an impressive 57 home runs and 142 RBIs in 2002. He also recorded his first Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 2003. Even so, the Rangers decided to trade Rodriguez to the New York Yankees in 2004.

Rodriguez gained even more fame as a Yankee, recording two more MVP awards in 2005 and 2008. He signed a 10-year, $275 million deal with the Yankees in 2007. To cap it off, Rodriguez and the Yankees won the World Series in 2009.

Rodriguez finally decided to retire from the MLB in 2016 after 22 seasons. He totaled a career batting average of .295 and nearly 700 home runs. Many consider Rodriguez to be one of the best baseball players of all time. Immediately after retiring, Rodriguez joined several broadcast crews, becoming a media personality.

Additionally, due to Rodriguez’s high career earnings, he has been able to become a prominent entrepreneur. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of his own company, A-Rod Corp, and he also owns a large stake in Presidente, a beer company. He also recently purchased a controlling interest in the Minnesota Timberwolves, a National Basketball Association (NBA) team.

Because of this, it is no wonder that Rodriguez operates his own private jet. This aircraft helps him to travel for business meetings across the country, but also provides him with the luxury of traveling privately. Let’s take a closer look at Alex Rodriguez’s private jet, a Gulfstream IV. Let’s also take a closer look at some of the features that have made this aircraft so popular over the years.

About Alex Rodriguez’s private jet

Currently, Alex Rodriguez flies a Gulfstream IV. According to Celebrity Private Jet Tracker, this aircraft is registered as N313AR. Additionally, according to FlightAware, Rodriguez’s private jet was first built in 1997 and has a serial number of 1317. The officially registered owner of the aircraft is DORA 13 LLC. This North Bergen, New Jersey-based company is managed by Jose Morse, one of Rodriguez’s business partners. The company is also AROD, Rodriguez’s nickname, spelled backwards, and Rodriguez is considered to be the main operator of this aircraft.

The Gulfstream IV was one of Gulfstream’s most popular business jets in the 1990s. It boasted a range of 4,220 nautical miles (4,856 miles), giving Rodriguez and his team the ability to fly to a wide variety of destinations around the world.

Additionally, Rodriguez frequently flies to domestic destinations in the US. His recent investment in the Minnesota Timberwolves requires Rodriguez to frequently fly to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the team is located. Additionally, Rodriguez owns a residence near Miami, Florida. According to Celebrity Private Jet Tracker, Rodriguez has flown to the following destinations over the past year:

A brief history of the Gulfstream IV series

Gulfstream Aerospace is one of the most well known business jet manufacturers in the world. The company, which is currently a subsidiary of General Dynamics, first originated in the late 1950s. At the time, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Company developed a twin-engine turboprop aircraft to be used as an executive transport aircraft. The aircraft was known as the Grumman Gulfstream I.

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The initial aircraft was a huge success, which led the company to explore additional business aircraft. To do so, Grumman separated its military and civil aviation production into different business segments. The spin-off business segment for civil aviation manufacturing was later moved to Savannah, Georgia, and led to the development of several business jets. The business segment was later purchased by American Jet Industries, led by Allen Paulson, and later renamed to Gulfstream Aerospace.

Over the years, Gulfstream has produced many business jets, with its most recent, the ultra-long-range business jet known as the Gulfstream G700, being certified in early 2024. In the early 1980s, Gulfstream was seeing success in some of its early business jets, like the Gulfstream II and the Gulfstream III.

Because of this, Gulfstream executives decided to create a larger variant of the Gulfstream III. Gulfstream collaborated with Grumman engineers to redesign the Gulfstream III into a brand-new private jet. This new aircraft featured a longer and stretched fuselage of the Gulfstream III and brand-new engines, and it was later designated as the Gulfstream IV.

The first Gulfstream IV prototype conducted its maiden flight on September 19, 1985. It received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in April 1987. Later that year, the aircraft was officially introduced into the market.

Since then, Gulfstream has introduced several variants of the Gulfstream IV. This includes the following variants:

• Gulfstream IV-SP
• Gulfstream G400
• Gulfstream G300
• Gulfstream G450
• Gulfstream G350

Overall, over 900 total Gulfstream IV variants were produced. It has been utilized by many civil operators, such as fractional ownership programs, wealthy individuals, and business executives. It is also used by many governments, including the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the Pakistan Air Force, the United States Air Force, the Chilean Air Force, and the Swedish Air Force, among others.

Photo: NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also utilizes a Gulfstream IV for collecting data about incoming tropical storms and hurricanes. The high service ceiling of the Gulfstream IV allows the aircraft to collect data of the incoming weather system in the upper atmosphere.

The design features and performance specifications of the Gulfstream IV

As previously mentioned, the Gulfstream IV was developed from the popular Gulfstream III with several upgrades. The newer Gulfstream IV featured a longer fuselage, although it kept the same cross-section as the Gulfstream III. The new stretched cabin can fit a maximum of 19 passengers, although a typical configuration fit up to 12 passengers. Overall, the Gulfstream IV has the following cabin measurements:

• Cabin length: 45.1 feet
• Cabin width: 7.3 feet
• Cabin height: 6.1 feet

The longer fuselage required a wing redesign. Additionally, Gulfstream engineers also used this opportunity to reduce the wing’s weight and increase the range of the aircraft. However, it also retained many of the Gulfstream III’s flight controls.

The Gulfstream IV was powered by two Rolls-Royce

Tay fanjet engines. These each provided the aircraft with nearly 12,500 pounds of thrust. These powerful engines helped the aircraft achieve the following performance specifications:

Inside the cockpit, the Gulfstream IV utilized a glass cockpit, making it the first business jet in the industry to do so. Specifically, the Gulfstream IV utilized the Honeywell

SPZ-8000 avionics system. This avionics package was upgraded to more modern systems as new variants were introduced.