How Bryan Johnson, Who Wants to Live Forever, Sought Control via Confidentiality Agreements
The New York Times
That control is starting to fray as Mr. Johnson, a longevity guru known for performing experiments on his body, faces a backlash over the agreements.
In a Netflix documentary released in January, Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur turned longevity guru, walked people through his morning routine. After tracking his sleep, he would wake up early to conduct audio therapy and hair therapy, do an hour of exercise and take 54 different pills with a drink called “the green giant,” he said.
Mr. Johnson also talked about his long-life start-up, Blueprint, which sells health supplements, blood-testing equipment and other products tied to his personal diet and recommendations.
“By doing Blueprint, one of the key objectives is to achieve the lowest possible biological age,” he declared. He added that his health regimen had “reversed my biological age 5.1 years.”
The Netflix feature was a breakout moment in Mr. Johnson’s five-year campaign to become the face of one of Silicon Valley’s most oddball fascinations: the pursuit of everlasting youth. The 47-year-old former Mormon missionary has become known for experimenting on his own body to defy aging, captivating the media and his nearly four million social media followers by receiving the blood plasma of his then-17-year-old son and repeatedly shocking his penis to increase his erections.
His fame has also appeared to catapult Blueprint to success. In January, Mr. Johnson hailed his start-up as “one of the fastest-growing companies in the world, fueled by word of mouth.”
But away from the cameras, his carefully curated profile and Blueprint’s business are starting to show cracks — especially with a brewing fight over Mr. Johnson’s use of a legal document: confidentiality agreements.
