Don’t Die: Humanity’s Future With Bryan Johnson

**SPEAKER_2** (0:08)
Welcome to FYI, The For Your Innovation Podcast.
This show offers an intellectual discussion on technologically enabled disruption, because investing in innovation starts with understanding it. To learn more, visit arkinvest.com.

**Brett Winton** (0:26)
ARK Invest is a registered investment advisor focused on investing in disruptive innovation. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. It does not constitute either explicitly or implicitly any provision of services or products by ARK. All statements made regarding companies or securities are strictly beliefs and points of view held by ARK or podcast guests, and are not endorsements or recommendations by ARK to buy, sell, or hold any security. Clients of ARK Investment Management may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast.
From ARK Invest, this is FYI, The For Your Innovation Podcast. I'm Brett Winton. We've got a great show for you today. We have our fearless founder, Cathie Wood. We have Charlie Roberts, multiple co-founder of Unicorns and Chief Investment Strategist for our private asset. And we have Bryan Johnson. Welcome, Bryan.
Bryan is going to live forever. He founded Pluperhend. He also founded Braintree and sold it to Vinmo. Bryan, why do you want to live forever? And when did it occur to you that it was a good thing to do?

**Bryan Johnson** (1:35)
You know, it's such a funny question. It's like, why do I want to live? It's funny because I think it shines a spotlight on this idea that we do live in a world where everyone assumes that you will die.
And therefore, you basically budget out your life and you make your life plans according to your stage of life. But you assume it's coming to an end. And this is the first moment in the history of our species where that may not be true. And so I know that creates a lot of consternation for a lot of people because one of the most intense things people deal with is what to do with time.
You know, like you wake up and you find yourself conscious. That's like, what do you do with yourself? And so I understand. So basically, I'm doing this because I think we are at a pivotal moment of the species. We are evolving into something new. And we are the first generation who won't die.

**Brett Winton** (2:28)
Well, was there like a moment where you were like, oh, now I'm going to try to prolong my life indefinitely? Was there some catalyst?
Was it kind of like, you know, getting money out of the sale of Braintree? Was that like, okay, well now what else do I have to spend money on? I should spend money on indefinitely prolonging my life? Or was there something else that kind of spurred you? Or was it a fundamental, I think this is possible now, therefore I'm gonna do it.

**Bryan Johnson** (2:55)
It was, yeah. So when I was 21, I felt motivated. I wanted to do something that would be useful to the human race. I had read a lot of biographies. I was familiar with history. I loved reading about people who in their time and place were able to do something that impacted future generations, potentially for hundreds of years. And so I wanted to do something, but the problem was I wasn't good at anything, nor did I have any good ideas. And I was from a small rural community. So like, what do you do when you don't have money or connections, or you're not good, or you're not like a stand out in anything? So I said, you know what, I'll just become an entrepreneur, I'll hustle, I'll make a whole bunch of money by age 30 And then with that money, I'll do something useful. And it fortunately worked out. So I sold Braintree Venmo, I made a few hundred million dollars. I sold it for just under a billion. I made a few hundred million dollars. And then at that moment, it was like, okay, we just achieved the 21-year-old imaginative dream. But I was also burned to a crisp. 14 years of entrepreneurship, I had three babies. I had just gotten divorced. I left my born into religion. I was just kind of scrambled in life. And I would, you know, off a decade of depression. And so it was this question, what do you do with life? Like, what do you do with time? And so I basically took a couple of years and I did two things. One is I organized my friends and we had dinners. And I would get like 10 of them together. And I would say, all right, here's a thought experiment for you.