Steve Fossett

James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor and adventurer. In 2002, he became the first balloonist to circumnavigate the world alone. In 2005, he completed the first nonstop global flight in an airplane by himself.^[1] He was also known for his friendship with the billionaire Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group sponsored some of Fossett's adventures.

Fossett in 2004

Fossett was born in Jackson, Tennessee. He grew up in Garden Grove, California. He attended Washington University in St. Louis and Stanford University. In 1968, Fossett married Peggy Fossett (née Viehland), originally from Richmond Heights, Missouri. The couple had homes in Beaver Creek, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; and Carmel, California.

On September 3, 2007, Fossett went missing while he was flying a light aircraft over the Great Basin Desert. A year later, in September 2008, a hiker found some of Fossett's belongings in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. That led to the discovery of his aircraft and some of his remains.^[2]