Learjet is a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use. It was founded in the late 1950s by Bill Lear Jr. as Swiss American Aviation Corporation. Learjet is now a subsidiary of Bombardier and marketed as the "Bombardier Learjet Family".

The original Learjet 23 was a six- to eight- seater and first flew on October 7, 1963, with the first production model being delivered in October 1964. Just over a month later, Lear Jet became a publicly-owned corporation. Several derived models followed, with the Model 24 first flying on February 24, 1966 and the Model 25 first flying on August 12, 1966.

On April 10, 1967, Bill Lear's stock was acquired by the Gates Rubber Company of Denver, Colorado, United States, with Lear remaining on the board until April 2, 1969. In 1969, the company was merged with Gates Aviation and the company name was changed to Gates Learjet Corporation.

In 1990, Bombardier Aerospace purchased the Learjet Corporation. The aircraft were then marketed as the "Bombardier Learjet Family". On October 10, 1990, the Learjet 60 mid-sized aircraft flew its first flight, followed on October 7, 1995 by the Learjet 45.

Source: Wikipedia, "Learjet", available under the CC-BY-SA License.