TLDR:
– Tech titans like Sam Altman are investing in startups in the hopes of cheating death.
– Other rich investors, driven by their own ailments and family deaths, are betting on biotech.
The article highlights how a growing number of family office principals, including heirs and first-generation entrepreneurs, are making direct investments in biotech startups in pursuit of longer and healthier lives. These investors are driven by their own health struggles or the deaths of loved ones, and they want to extend not only lifespan but also the health span, which refers to the number of years spent free of chronic diseases or age-related ailments.
The article mentions Maximilian Winter, a seventh-generation heir who began investing in healthcare and life sciences in 2018. Winter’s family office has since spun off these investments into a fund that has deployed more than $20 million. Winter believes that a health span of 90 to 120 years is “fairly reasonable” for him, given the pace of medical advances. However, he remains skeptical about the idea of living indefinitely.
The article also discusses the challenges faced by longevity investors, including the risk and high cost of biotech investing. The industry is also young, making it difficult to determine which companies are genuine and which ones might be “snake oil salesmen.” Despite these challenges, wealthy investors continue to invest in biotech startups in the hopes of finding breakthrough treatments and technologies that can improve health and extend lifespan.
Several examples of wealthy investors and their investments are provided. These include cases such as Zurich-based Kathrin Genovese, who follows a regimen of exercise and supplements to reduce inflammation, and Eric Becker, who founded a family office and invested in startups focused on long-lived people and life sciences. The article concludes by emphasizing that for these wealthy individuals, longevity investments are not just abstract concepts; they are personal journeys to improve their own health and minimize regrets.
