Joby Aviation

Day-to-day executive decisions flow through JoeBen Bevirt, the founder and CEO, who has led the firm since its inception in the Santa Cruz workshop in 2009. The company's public filings note that the Board oversees governance, but the CEO is the central decision-maker on the interrelated tracks of aircraft certification, manufacturing ramp-up, and commercial service launch. A specific non-executive chair or independent lead director is not separately identified in the available materials.

Joby's primary stated strategy is to operate its own fleet directly as a commercial air taxi airline, rather than develop an aircraft to sell to third parties. The company owns the FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certificate that permits commercial service, and it is building the consumer-facing booking app, pilot pipeline, and operational infrastructure in-house. This vertical integration means near-term revenue expectations center on selling flights, not aircraft.

Joby has stacked initial demand through two large distribution partnerships: a multi-year, multi-city agreement with Delta Air Lines for airport transfer routes, and integration into the Uber app to provide end-to-end rideshare coordination. It also plans to leverage the established terminal footprint and customer base acquired through Blade Air Mobility's passenger business, particularly in New York and Southern Europe.

Toyota is both a significant strategic investor and an operational partner. As of 2024, it closed an additional $250 million tranche of funding dedicated to accelerating certification and production. Before that, Toyota had supplied dozens of engineers to work alongside Joby's team on factory layout and manufacturing processes—a relationship that dates back to Toyota's initial strategic investment in Joby several years prior.

The 2025 acquisition of Blade Air Mobility's passenger business gives Joby immediate infrastructure and market access, including established terminal locations and a base of existing customers in the New York metropolitan area and Southern Europe. This positions Joby to enter commercial service more rapidly in key early markets than if it had to build awareness and terminal access from scratch.

Joby has secured an FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certificate, which is a prerequisite to operate a commercial air taxi service. The company has also completed its first FAA production conformity inspection, a crucial step toward type certification, and concluded its first piloted full-transition flight—a milestone that moves the aircraft into the FAA flight testing phase. Full type certification of the production aircraft is still pending.

The available corporate materials describe Joby strictly as a for-profit commercial entity with a focus on emissions reduction through the operation of an all-electric fleet. There is no disclosure of a separate philanthropic foundation, donor-advised fund, or impact-investment vehicle directly associated with the firm or its founder.