Bryan Johnson Net Worth

What Is Bryan Johnson's Net Worth?

Bryan Johnson is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and longevity advocate who has a net worth of $500 million.

Bryan Johnson earned his fortune as the founder of Braintree, an online and mobile payment-processing company that became an important provider for technology businesses including Airbnb, Uber, and OpenTable. Braintree acquired the payment app Venmo for $26.2 million in 2012. The following year, eBay acquired Braintree for PayPal in an $800 million cash transaction.

After selling Braintree, Johnson committed hundreds of millions of dollars to scientific and technology ventures. He launched OS Fund with $100 million of his own capital and founded the neurotechnology company Kernel, investing another $100 million in the business.

Johnson later became internationally famous for Project Blueprint, a data-driven health program designed to slow his rate of aging. His routine has included a controlled diet, exercise, strict sleep habits, supplements, prescription medications, medical imaging, blood testing, and experimental treatments. Johnson has published large amounts of his health data and turned Blueprint into a consumer business selling food, supplements, skincare products, and testing services.

His campaign against aging became the subject of the 2025 Netflix documentary "Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever."

Early Life and Education

Bryan Johnson was born on August 22, 1977, in Provo, Utah, and grew up in nearby Springville. He was raised with three brothers and a sister. His parents divorced during his childhood, and he lived with his mother and stepfather, who operated a trucking company.

Johnson was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At age 19, he began a two-year church mission in Ecuador. He has said that the experience exposed him to extreme poverty and strengthened his ambition to build companies capable of addressing large social problems.

After returning to Utah, Johnson attended Brigham Young University. He graduated in 2003 with a degree in international studies.

Johnson later enrolled at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He earned an MBA in 2007 and won the school's New Venture Challenge with the business plan that became Braintree.

Early Business Ventures

Johnson launched several businesses while completing his education.

His first successful venture involved selling cell phones and service plans. He recruited other college students to work as salespeople and earned commissions from their contracts. The business helped him pay his tuition and introduced him to the economics of payment processing and commission-based sales.

Johnson also co-founded Inquist, a voice-over-internet company intended to combine elements of services such as Vonage and Skype. The business ceased operations in 2001.

He subsequently joined his brother and another partner in a real estate development project. The group planned a $70 million development, but the project failed to reach its sales targets.

Johnson's most important early experience came when he began selling credit-card-processing services door to door. He concluded that many small businesses were receiving confusing contracts, poor service, and unfavorable pricing from existing processors. That experience formed the basis for Braintree.

Braintree

Johnson founded Braintree in Chicago in 2007. The company provided businesses with software and infrastructure for accepting credit-card payments through websites and mobile applications.

Braintree focused on technology companies that needed flexible payment systems capable of supporting rapid growth. Its customers eventually included Airbnb, Uber, OpenTable, GitHub, HotelTonight, and other prominent internet businesses.

Johnson initially built the company without relying heavily on outside funding. Braintree was processing $8 million in payments per day and generating $10 million in annual revenue by 2011. That year, the company raised its first major institutional financing round, and Johnson recruited Bill Ready to become chief executive.

Braintree appeared on the "Inc. 500" list of America's fastest-growing private companies and expanded its mobile-payment business as smartphone commerce accelerated.

Venmo Acquisition and $800 Million Sale

In August 2012, Braintree acquired Venmo for $26.2 million. Venmo allowed users to transfer money to friends and divide expenses through a mobile application.

The acquisition gave Braintree both a consumer-facing payment service and a recognizable mobile brand. Venmo would later become one of the most widely used peer-to-peer payment applications in the United States.

By September 2013, Braintree was processing $12 billion in annual payments, including $4 billion through mobile devices.

That month, eBay agreed to purchase Braintree for PayPal for $800 million in cash. The acquisition was completed in December 2013, and Braintree continued operating as a separate service within PayPal.

Johnson retained a large ownership position through the sale and received hundreds of millions of dollars from the transaction. The payday supplied the capital for his later investments in science, health, artificial intelligence, and neurotechnology.

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OS Fund

In 2014, Johnson launched OS Fund with $100 million of his personal capital.

The venture capital firm was created to support scientists and entrepreneurs working on technologies that could produce fundamental advances rather than incremental improvements to existing products. Johnson described the companies as attempting to rewrite the "operating systems of life."

OS Fund has invested in businesses working in synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, genomics, transportation, food production, space technology, and medical research.

Its portfolio has included companies seeking to engineer living organisms, manufacture biological materials, extend healthy human life, automate transportation, and develop new ways to produce food.

The fund reflected Johnson's stated goal of using the Braintree fortune to finance projects that could remain important for generations.

Kernel

Johnson founded Kernel in 2016 and committed $100 million to the company.

Kernel initially explored several forms of brain-computer-interface technology. The company eventually concentrated on noninvasive systems capable of measuring changes in brain activity without surgically implanted electrodes.

Its principal technology, Kernel Flow, uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure changes in blood flow and oxygen levels associated with neural activity. The helmet-like system is designed to make advanced brain measurements faster and more accessible than many traditional laboratory methods.

Kernel has worked with researchers, clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and other organizations studying aging, cognitive performance, depression, neurological disorders, meditation, and the effects of drugs and other interventions.

Johnson stepped away from the chief executive role as the company developed its clinical and research operations, though he remained its founder and primary financial backer.

Project Blueprint

Johnson launched Project Blueprint in 2021 after years of depression, poor sleep, weight gain, and what he described as damaging health habits.

The project attempted to replace his day-to-day health decisions with a detailed system based on medical testing and measurable outcomes. A team of doctors and other specialists helped create protocols intended to improve his cardiovascular health, metabolism, strength, sleep, skin, dental health, and other biological measurements.

Johnson's routine has included a plant-based diet, daily exercise, an early bedtime, controlled calorie intake, supplements, prescription medications, light therapy, medical imaging, blood tests, and continuous monitoring of sleep and physical performance.

He has said that the program originally cost around $2 million per year. Much of that expense came from developing the system, employing medical professionals, buying equipment, and testing treatments rather than from the basic diet and exercise routine.

Johnson regularly publishes health measurements that he says show improvements in his cardiovascular fitness, inflammation, body composition, sleep, and pace of aging. Those measurements are drawn from his own highly controlled experiment rather than from a large clinical trial.

Plasma Treatments

One of Johnson's most widely publicized experiments involved plasma infusions.

In 2023, his teenage son supplied plasma to Johnson as part of an exchange that also involved Johnson donating plasma to his father. Johnson had previously received plasma from younger anonymous donors.

He ended the treatment after reporting that the infusions produced no detectable benefit.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has warned that plasma from young donors has no proven clinical benefit for preventing or treating normal aging. Plasma infusions can also cause allergic reactions, infections, circulatory complications, and other medical risks.

Scientific Criticism

Project Blueprint has attracted attention for promoting broadly accepted habits such as regular exercise, adequate sleep, avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight, and eating nutrient-rich foods.

Scientists and physicians have nevertheless questioned Johnson's more dramatic claims.

Critics have noted that there is no accepted medical test capable of reducing a person's entire biological age to one reliable number. They have also warned that changing many variables at the same time makes it difficult to determine which treatments are producing benefits or causing harm.

Johnson's extensive supplement use and experimental procedures have generated additional concern because many combinations have not been evaluated in controlled clinical trials.

Johnson presents Blueprint as an evolving personal experiment rather than proof that immortality has been achieved. He has stopped or changed treatments when his measurements failed to show a benefit.

Blueprint Business and "Don't Die"

Johnson expanded Project Blueprint into a commercial health and wellness brand.

The company has sold supplements, prepared foods, olive oil, protein products, skincare treatments, hair products, testing services, and packages designed to reproduce parts of Johnson's daily routine.

He also developed "Don't Die" into a broader philosophy centered on preserving human life, improving decision-making, and preparing the human body for a future shaped by artificial intelligence.

Johnson has written books including "Code 7: Cracking the Code for an Epic Life," "The Proto Project," and "Don't Die."

In January 2025, Netflix released "Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever." Directed by Chris Smith, the documentary followed Johnson's health program, business activities, family relationships, and belief that aging should be treated as an engineering problem.

Personal Life

Johnson has three children from a previous marriage. His son Talmage has appeared with him in videos and participated in parts of the Blueprint lifestyle, including exercise, diet, and health testing.

In 2016, Johnson began a relationship with actress, musician, and content creator Taryn Southern. The couple became engaged and worked together on several projects.

Southern was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, and the relationship ended during her treatment. In 2021, she sued Johnson, alleging that he had broken promises to support her financially and subjected her to emotional and financial mistreatment. Johnson denied her allegations.

Because Southern had worked for one of Johnson's companies, much of the dispute was directed into private arbitration under an employment agreement. Her claims did not prevail, the case was dismissed, and she was ordered to reimburse more than $580,000 of Johnson's legal expenses. The proceedings turned in substantial part on contractual releases and arbitration provisions and did not result in a public trial resolving every disputed factual allegation.

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