A tech billionaire executed the first private spacewalk on Thursday, taking place several hundred miles above Earth, an activity traditionally carried out by professional astronauts.
Jared Isaacman, a 41-year-old entrepreneur from New Jersey and the CEO of Shift4, collaborated with SpaceX to test new spacesuits during his chartered flight. Following Isaacman’s return inside, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis also conducted a spacewalk.
Isaacman has not revealed the amount he invested in this mission, part of a three-flight program he calls Polaris, with this specific mission named Polaris Dawn. In 2021, he previously led SpaceX’s first private flight, which included contest winners and a cancer survivor.
Prior to Thursday, only 263 individuals had accomplished a spacewalk, representing a total of 12 countries. The first spacewalk was conducted by the Soviet Union’s Alexei Leonov in 1965, soon followed by NASA’s Ed White.
Isaacman began flying lessons in 2004 and set a world record for circumnavigating the globe five years later. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2011 and is a family man with two daughters.
Shift4, which Isaacman founded in 1999 from his parents’ basement at just 16 years old, processes payments for about one-third of the restaurants and hotels in the U.S. The company went public in June 2020, with Isaacman holding 38% of the stock.
In 2011, he also established Draken International, a defense company that operates the largest private military aircraft fleet in the world and offers pilot training for the Air Force. He later sold a majority share for a significant profit.
According to estimates, Isaacman’s net worth is approximately $1.9 billion.