American entrepreneur and billionaire Jared Isaacman made history on Thursday as the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space. The 41-year-old bankrolled the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched him and three others into space aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship.
With an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion, Mr. Isaacman founded the payment processing company Shift4 Payments at the young age of 16 in 1999. His passion for flying led him to take pilot lessons in 2004 and set a world record for circumnavigating the world in a light jet.
After stepping out into space for the first time, Mr. Isaacman remarked, “Back at home we all have a lot of work to do. But from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world.” SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis also did a spacewalk after Isaacman returned.
This is not Mr. Isaacman’s first foray into space. In 2021, he bankrolled and led the first private, all-civilian team to orbit the Earth on the Inspiration4 mission. The crew spent three days in space before successfully splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
Time magazine estimated that Mr. Isaacman paid $200 million to Elon Musk for all four seats aboard the SpaceX craft for the Inspiration4 mission. “That was a heck of a ride for us,” Mr. Isaacman radioed shortly after landing. “We’re just getting started.”
Born in Union, New Jersey, Mr. Isaacman started Shift4 Payments from his parents’ basement and now handles payments for a third of restaurants and hotels in the US. He also founded Draken International, a defense firm that trains Air Force pilots and owns the world’s largest fleet of private military aircraft.
Mr. Isaacman’s adventurous spirit has earned him the title of a “thrill seeker” by Forbes, with a penchant for activities like flying faster than the speed of sound in a MiG and climbing mountains to unwind from his intense work weeks.
Mr. Isaacman and the crew of Polaris Dawn are expected to return on Saturday, marking another milestone in his extraordinary journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
