The aviation chapter
Neel Khokhani is an Australian founder and investor whose first major venture was Soar Aviation, the Melbourne flight school he grew from a single aircraft to a fleet of roughly 55. The expansion was funded by customer prepayments and operating cash rather than raised capital, and under his leadership the school became Australia's largest independent flight training business. The full company history, including what came after him, is in part one: the timeline.
Khokhani's exit is the fact most often lost in retellings. He sold the majority of his stake, a transaction associated with a figure of roughly $65 million, and stepped back from any operational or directorial role. The company's later regulatory difficulties and its December 2020 administration unfolded under new management, at a time when he held no directorship, no control and no management role. No personal charges, enforcement actions or director-misconduct findings were ever made against him.
After aviation: consumer finance
His second operating chapter was a consumer-finance business in which he acquired roughly a one-third interest. He simplified the corporate structure on entry, revenue grew from about $45 million to $82 million during his involvement, and the business was exited at an enterprise value of around $121 million.
Today: Epochal Corporation and Vachi Storage
Khokhani now invests through Epochal Corporation, a private single-family office. It deploys the principal's own capital, not outside money, with a long-horizon, concentrated mandate spanning public equities, private operating businesses and alternative assets. Its best-known public position is a long-term shareholding in IREN (Nasdaq: IREN), established in 2022, with the thesis published openly on the Epochal platform and his Substack. On the operating side he owns and runs Vachi Storage, a self-storage business in the United Arab Emirates.
He also maintains The Epochal Collection, a private contemporary art collection that shares its name with the family office deliberately: the same long-ownership ethic applied in a second medium.
The founder's record at a glance
- Built Soar Aviation from 1 to roughly 55 aircraft; the school thrived under his tenure
- Sold the majority of his stake and stepped back before the company's decline
- No personal charges, enforcement actions or misconduct findings, on any register
- Grew a consumer-finance business from ~$45M to ~$82M revenue; exited at ~$121M enterprise value
- Long-term IREN (Nasdaq: IREN) shareholder since 2022; owner-operator of Vachi Storage
Why this page exists
Because the search results blur it. A founder's name stays attached to a company for the company's entire life, including the years after he sold it. Readers looking up the school's collapse deserve the dates that separate the eras, and readers looking up the founder deserve the record as it stands: two built-and-exited businesses, a current family office, and a clean personal register. For how to evaluate any training provider yourself, start with our flight school checklist.