--- description: Google co-founder Larry Page has been secretly bankrolling companies working on flying cars, according to a new report. title: A Google Co-Founder Is Secretly Building Flying Cars image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdde2d25c1a325c27/698897150a4a222e8e9ca035/gettyimages-495426754.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Google Co-Founder Is Secretly Building Flying Cars ## Video: Tech Time: How Airplane Wifi Works [Watch (HLS stream): Tech Time: How Airplane Wifi Works](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lfTXbUYM.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2015-10-29. Tech Time: How Airplane Wifi Works_  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 9, 2016 1:20 PM CUT  Larry Page, co-founder of Google Inc. and chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., speaks during the 2015 Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Monday, Nov. 2, 2015. Larry Page, co-founder of Google Inc. and chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., speaks during the 2015 Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Monday, Nov. 2, 2015.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 9, 2016 1:20 PM CUT Google co-founder Larry Page has been secretly bankrolling companies working on flying cars, according to a new [report](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-09/welcome-to-larry-page-s-secret-flying-car-factories "undefined"). Page, now CEO of Google parent company Alphabet, has contributed over $100 million on secretive personal aviation startup Zee.Aero, Bloomberg [reports](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-09/welcome-to-larry-page-s-secret-flying-car-factories "undefined"). He has separately funded another similar startup, called Kitty Hawk, an apparent reference to the site of the Wright brothers’ first flight. Page did not return Bloomberg’s requests for comment. Google did not immediately return TIME’s request for comment. Flying cars have been little more than a dream for decades. While several companies have gotten close to bringing models to market, costs and regulatory hurdles have proved insurmountable hurdles. Personal aircraft that could, say, take off from an owner’s driveway might sound cool, but in practice the idea has so far proven impractical. [Increasingly sophisticated automation systems](http://time.com/4171329/drone-helicopter-ehang-184-ces/ "undefined") may help by reducing the amount of training time needed on the part of new pilots, though those systems give rise to safety questions of their own. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4362440/larry-page-google-flying-cars-zee-aero-kitty-hawk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4362440/larry-page-google-flying-cars-zee-aero-kitty-hawk/"},"headline":"A Google Co-Founder Is Secretly Building Flying Cars","datePublished":"2016-06-09T13:20:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:50:05.125Z","description":"Larry Page is funding two personal aviation companies","url":"https://time.com/4362440/larry-page-google-flying-cars-zee-aero-kitty-hawk/","keywords":["Tech","Google","Aviation","Companies","Alphabet"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdde2d25c1a325c27/698897150a4a222e8e9ca035/gettyimages-495426754.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdde2d25c1a325c27/698897150a4a222e8e9ca035/gettyimages-495426754.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At 2015 The Fortune Global Forum","caption":"Key Speakers At 2015 The Fortune Global Forum","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4362440/larry-page-google-flying-cars-zee-aero-kitty-hawk/","name":"A Google Co-Founder Is Secretly Building Flying Cars"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tech Time: How Airplane Wifi Works","description":"Tech Time: How Airplane Wifi Works","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lfTXbUYM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-29T15:49:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lfTXbUYM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4362440/larry-page-google-flying-cars-zee-aero-kitty-hawk/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4362440/larry-page-google-flying-cars-zee-aero-kitty-hawk/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```