How Did Bryan Johnson Make His Money?

Over the last few years, Bryan Johnson has made headlines for his dedication to extending life and reversing the aging process. He reportedly spends about $2 million each year on supplements and other therapies to keep his body as young as possible. Johnson claimed in 2023 that he had reversed his “epigenetic age” by more than five years.

Obviously, most people don’t have $2 million they can spend annually on experimental therapies. So, how does Bryan Johnson have enough wealth to fund such an expensive project?

The entrepreneur tried several business concepts before becoming a multimillionaire. This is the story of how he built his wealth.

How Did Bryan Johnson Get Started?

Like many wealthy people, Bryan Johnson learned from starting businesses that didn’t succeed. As a student at Brigham Young University, he launched three startups. While he learned a lot from the experiences and made money to help pay his way through school, the businesses ultimately failed.

Johnson had his first real success in 2007 with Braintree, a payment processor for e-commerce sites. Customers could use Braintree via a smartphone app or web browser to pay for online goods and services.

The service was so popular that Inc. Magazine called it one of 2011’s fastest-growing companies. Braintree was so financially successful that it had enough money ($26.2 million) to acquire Venmo in 2012. This move positioned Johnson to become a multi-millionaire. In 2013, he sold the company to PayPal for $800 million.

Did Bryan Johnson Start Venmo?

Bryan Johnson didn’t start Venmo, but his company, Braintree, acquired Venmo for $26.2 million in 2012. Venmo was founded by Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail.

Kortina and Magdon-Ismail wanted to help a friend start a yogurt store. They quickly discovered that point-of-sale (POS) solutions didn’t meet their expectations.

As they worked on a better payment-processing tool, they decided that they also wanted to sell audio recordings of live concerts by accepting payment via text message.

They soon built a prototype that let users send money to each other through text messages, but they later turned Venmo into a stand-alone app with more features.

What Did Bryan Johnson Do to Get So Rich?

Bryan Johnson became a multimillionaire by starting a series of companies until he found an idea that succeeded, called Braintree.

Braintree’s payment processing features made it a hit. It grew so quickly that Inc magazine included Braintree on the 500 fastest-growing companies two years in a row.

During this time, Johnson made the smart decision to acquire Venmo. It cost his company $26.2 million to buy, but the new features made it easier for users to process payments via their smartphones.

The following year, PayPal bought Braintree Venmo for $800 million.

The success of Braintree didn’t slow Bryan Johnson’s entrepreneurial spirit. He used his financial success to invest $100 million of his personal money to OS Fund. OS Fund provides startup capital for technology businesses in their early phases.

Some of OS Fund’s investment money has gone to:

• Atomwise and twoXAR, two businesses using artificial intelligence to discover new drugs.
• Catalog, a company researching ways to store data in DNA molecules.
• Ginko Bioworks, a biotech company developing industrial applications for bacteria.
• Matternet, a drone company focused on delivering consumer goods and prescription drugs.

Johnson also founded Kernel, a company dedicated to building hardware that can detect and interact with brain signals. He has committed $154 million of his money in the company and raised an additional $53 million from outside investors.

Johnson believes Kernel has the potential to develop a broad range of products that support mental health treatments, recovering from strokes, and treating Alzheimer’s disease.

Not all of Johnson’s work has focused on building businesses. He has also published four books:

• Code 7: Cracking the Code for an Epic Life (a children’s book intended for ages 7 to 10)
• The Proto Project (a science-fiction book intended for ages 8 to 12)
• We the People (a speculative fiction book published under the name Zero)
• Don’t Die (a speculative fiction book published under the name Zero)

Johnson also contributed a chapter to Martin Ford’s book Architects of Intelligence: The Truth About AI From the People Building It.

How Much Did Bryan Johnson Sell His Company For?

Bryan Johnson sold Braintree Venmo to PayPal for $800 million.

At the time, PayPal was owned by eBay.

How Did Bryan Johnson Make His Money?

Bryan Johnson made his money by selling Braintree, a payments provider, to PayPal for $800 million.

Johnson showed an interest in entrepreneurship from a young age. He grew up in a Mormon household with his mother and father, who owns a small trucking company.

At 19, Johnson traveled to Ecuador for two years of missionary work. When he returned to the United States, he enrolled at Brigham Young University, where he started three businesses. Although the businesses didn’t find long-term success, Johnson did earn enough money to support himself and pay for school. The limited financial success encouraged him to explore more opportunities.

Bryan Johnson spent about half a decade working on various business ideas. He made it big when he built Braintree in 2007.

Braintree’s platform provided an efficient digital payment solution that consumers and businesses needed as more people turned to online shopping. Braintree soon acquired Venmo. PayPal recognized the benefits Braintree Venmo offered, so it purchased the company for $800 million.

Within six years, Johnson used Braintree to become a multimillionaire. He was then free to invest capital in other business ventures. He also set his sights on reversing the aging process and extending his potential lifespan.

Bryan Johnson’s Family

Bryan Johnson has three children with his ex-wife. Although he left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints decades ago, at least one of his sons was on a mission with the Mormon church in 2023.

His younger son follows many aspects of Bryan’s life-extension regiment, including the diet and exercise portions. He doesn’t, however, follow the anti-aging techniques.

Bryan Johnson and Life Extension

After selling Braintree Venmo, Bryan Johnson devoted himself to exploring life-extension techniques. His company, Blueprint, sells various nutritional products, such as supplements and high-protein meals, intended to increase a person’s life expectancy.

Johnson has also been on a personal journey to extend his life as much as possible. He claims to spend about $2 million per year on medical assessments, daily supplements, and novel therapies. For a short time, he reportedly took plasma injections that he got from his son. He abandoned the therapy because he didn’t see any data-driven results.

He regularly goes to clinics where he receives skin treatments like micro-needling, laser therapy, fat injections, and acid peels. Johnson claims his approach to looking younger gives him the skin of a 14-year-old. (He’s currently 46.) He also claims to have the lung capacity of an 18-year-old and the heart of a 37-year-old.

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