Jared Isaacman went from being a high school dropout to a tech billionaire and space tourist. Admitting to being a terrible student who wasn’t happy in school, Isaacman dropped out at age 16 to found Shift4 Payments, a payment-processing firm. He got the idea for the company while working for a payment-processing firm at age 15 and sought to simplify the process for businesses. Despite long hours behind a keyboard, Shift4 Payments became highly successful, handling over $260 billion in payments annually for over 200,000 customers across the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe.
In addition to Shift4 Payments, Isaacman founded Draken International in 2011, a defense firm that trains US Air Force pilots and has become the largest private fleet of military aircraft. He has a passion for flying, attending flight school in the early 2000s and eventually completing the fastest trip around the world in a light jet in 2009. Throughout his ventures, Isaacman has been a philanthropist, raising money for charity and pledging to donate half his wealth as part of Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge mission. He also sold a majority stake in Draken to Blackstone in 2019 for a nine-figure sum.
Isaacman then funded and led the first civilian mission to space aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, breaking records as the first space tourist to circle the Earth without a professional astronaut on board. He purchased three trips to return to space from Elon Musk, with the first taking off on Tuesday. This five-day trip will go beyond the International Space Station’s orbit of 870 miles and set a new record for the furthest human spaceflight since the Apollo missions to the moon. Isaacman will also conduct the first private spacewalk during the mission, testing SpaceX’s latest suits.
Isaacman expressed his excitement about the trip and his desire to help pioneer a new era of human space exploration, stating that he hopes his kids will see humans walking on the moon and Mars. Despite his success and newfound status as a billionaire, Isaacman remains grounded, living in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters. Through his various ventures and charitable donations, Isaacman has made a significant impact in both the business world and the realm of space exploration. His journey from a high school dropout to a tech billionaire and space tourist exemplifies the potential for success and innovation when one dares to dream big and take risks.
