JetBlue CEO finds success despite academic struggles

David Neeleman has been pictured on the cover of TIME magazine — between Bin Laden and the Pope — as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

But in a speech Tuesday at the Bendheim Center for Finance, the CEO of airliner JetBlue described himself as "just a dumb kid from Utah."

Neeleman, who dropped out of Utah State University and was recently diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, said he did so poorly on the ACT in high school that "My guidance counselor called me in and told me that, on the English section, if I would have just answered C on each question, I would have done much better."

But though he said that many people from prestigious institutions are successful, Neeleman added that the two are not necessarily correlated.

"There is not a huge connection between scholastic smarts and success," he said.

JetBlue, one of only two successful sustained airline startups in the last 30 years, has certainly been a success. Neeleman launched the company in February 2000 and boasted the most profitable first year of airline history with $130 million capitalization. By age 32, he had $25 million in stock.

Nevertheless, Neeleman said he refuses to believe that wealth is simply an end in itself. "Money wasn't everything," he said. "I wasn't into fast cars or private jets. [Money] isn't a way to keep score; it's more of a means to an end."

Rather, he said he enjoyed the process of innovation, which he called "nursing and conceiving a baby."

Support nonprofit student journalism. Donate to the ‘Prince’. Donate now »

"A lot of people think that everything that's useful is already made," he said. "But I believe there's always a better mousetrap to build."

Neeleman said that he did not follow one single formula to build JetBlue, but that sincerity and trust are essential to any company's success.

"Just treat people fairly," he said. "Give the best product in the industry with the lowest unit cost. You need the best people in customer service business . . . and [to] increase production by using technology."

For his passengers' comfort, he has provided JetBlue planes with 36 channels of live seatback televisions and wider leather seats with more legroom. 100 radio channels will be added soon.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Neeleman set up the JetBlue Crew Member Crisis Fund to assist members of the company with extreme health or family needs, and his company donated $217,000 to the Red Cross early this year to help the tsunami relief effort. In addition, because his father was a journalist in South America, Neeleman took an opportunity to do a missionary trip to destitute parts of Brazil.

Luke Mawhinney '05, president of the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club, which cosponsored the talk, said he was impressed by how JetBlue was able to make a profit during the difficult period for airlines after Sept. 11, 2001.

"He's such a smart guy — and so understated," Mawhinney said.