How Billionaires Spend Their Money
By Bartley Harvard Kerr, DC
NRC Founder and CEO
What would you buy if you were a billionaire? I sometimes ask myself that question in my down time, whether being stuck in traffic, in dinner conversation, or when I am trying to fall asleep. Would you want to get a nice new house (or two!), a rare sports car, or maybe do some traveling to exotic and exclusive locations. But what’s next? As it turns out, I would probably spend the money a lot like the guys who are billionaires.
Many of the current billionaires fascinate me. A good number of them are creative minds, with “out of the box” thinking and the mental clarity and wherewithal to make their visions a reality. This is especially true in the Internet and technology area. These are the innovators that have changed the way we do things and operate our lives.
“What does this have to do with Rejuvenation Medicine,” you ask? There is a connection. I will explain. In many instances, people’s interests go beyond what they are primarily known for. Billionaire’s are no exception to this, and they may use their creativity, infrastructure and wealth to act on their interests. More often than not, these interests include the advancement of healthcare and longevity. The three individuals I am going to focus on are Larry Ellison, Sergey Brin, and Peter Thiel.
Larry Ellison is the founder of Oracle Corporation, a software and hardware company, and is worth well over $20 billion dollars. He has some of the world’s largest and nicest yachts, beautiful homes, and recently purchased one of the Hawaiian Islands!
There is, however, much more to this guy than the things that he buys. It is said that he has a passion for genetics and reversing the aging process. He is founder of the “Larry Ellison Foundation,” and donated $50 million for research in anti-aging therapies. Particularly interesting to me is his foundation’s work on telomeres.
This is from the foundation’s website. Scientist’s have “determined that cells growing in culture can only keep dividing through about 50 doublings before they fall into senescence (growing old) and stop growing. An important part of this genetic timing mechanism seems to be the telomere, a DNA-based structure that decorates the tip ends of each chromosome. Research has shown that each time a somatic cell divides all of its telomeres lose a little bit of length. They keep getting shorter until they get so small they shut down cell division, inducing cell senescence.”
“There’s also an enzyme called telomerase, which rebuilds telomeres in stem cells, allowing them to keep on dividing indefinitely for the sake of reproduction and wound repair. And telomerase is also “turned on,” perhaps accidentally, in cancer cells, which exploit immortality – with lethal results.
Thus research into telomeres, telomerase, their relationships, activities and impacts is one of the hottest areas of biomedical research, being important in aging, cancer, and genome science.”
I have only seen Larry Ellison in photographs, but at 67 years old, he doesn’t look a day 45! I will be keeping an eye and his research, as telomeres and genetics may be the future of anti-aging.
Sergey Brin, cofounder of the search engine Google (and no friend of Larry Ellison due to their recent court battle over certain technology issues), shares a passion for genetics as well. Worth almost $20 billion dollars, Brin invested in a company called 23andme. Sergey’s wife, Anne Wojcicki, an equally creative and “out of the box” thinker, founded 23andme, a genetic testing company. It revolves around a simple saliva test that can inform the patient of an incredible amount of genetic data, including many sicknesses and diseases that the person is susceptible to get. A treatment plan can then be devised for the patient to decrease their chances of getting the problem or postponing it until a cure or better treatment comes along.
Brin found out, through 23andme, that he has a 50% chance of developing Parkinson’s disease and is very proactive in postponing or preventing it from affecting him. With continued research from the geneticists at 23andme, an interesting development happened less than a year ago. This is taken from “Business Insider’s” website: 23andMe, a privately held genetic testing startup, announced today that it has identified a gene that could reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking and difficulty with walking, movement and coordination. Individuals with the LRRK2 variation in their genetic code have a fifty-fifty chance of developing Parkinson’s disease, Wojcicki said. 23andMe found that some individuals without the disease but with the LRRK2 variation had another gene that could reduce the risk of Parkinson’s in individuals with the LRRK2 variation.
“It’s spectacular, my husband has this variation called LRRK 2,” she (Wojcicki) said.
Academics “jaws dropped” when they found out 23andMe had made a discovery of that caliber, she said. That’s because most pharmaceutical companies keep data close to the chest so they retain a competitive advantage over other companies, she said.
“Through the research is the first time that consumers having participant driven research, we’ve been able to identify the gene SGK1 that looks like it’s a modifier and protecting against LRRK2 (a gene associated with increased risk of Parkinson’s),” 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki said. “The community has been so successful that in such a short time frame we found something that could be a modifier that could lead to a druggable target.”
23andme has fascinated me for a long time and I love the many different potential applications of its technologies.
Peter Thiel is a billionaire that developed PayPal, and was one of the first investors in Facebook. Heavily into anti-aging and staying healthy, Thiel pledged $3.5 million to the Methuselah Foundation, which provides funding for rejuvenation and longevity research. From their web page: “Instead of accepting the physical and mental losses associated with aging we look for answers and solutions. Not for one disease but for the general loss of functionality and productivity that we all experience. We are a catalyst for progress – seeking, supporting and rewarding science that extends healthy lifespan.”
Thiel is also a supporter of the SENS Foundation, which promotes “regenerative medicine”. From their website: “SENS is an acronym for “Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence”. It is best defined as an integrated set of medical techniques designed to restore youthful molecular and cellular structure to aged tissues and organs.” “This broadly defined regenerative medicine – which includes the repair of living cells and extracellular material in situ – applied to damage of aging, is what we refer to as rejuvenation biotechnologies.”
Thiel does not stop there, as he is also is behind “Breakout Labs” which provides funds for “early stage radical ideas” in an effort to “energize innovative research.” From their website: “Through Breakout Labs, we’re reshaping the way early-stage science is funded, so that early-stage companies can advance their most radical ideas. Venture capital firms want research that can be quickly brought to market, and federal funding offers little room for risky, unproven ideas. We are jumping into this funding gap to energize innovative research.”
Like Larry Ellison, Thiel likes the idea of island life and been working with the “Seasteading Institute” which manufactures large, free-floating islands similar to oil rigs in hopes to create “sovereign nations in international waters, free from laws of any country.” (This has nothing to do with Rejuvenation Medicine, but I find it fascinating, and shows you how this type of mind works.)
It appears that today’s successful innovators have a passion to change, or move medicine forward. Their epitaphs may focus more on their contributions to health and longevity than the success they are currently enjoying in their respective businesses. One thing is for sure, I will be following what these people and others are doing in regards to age management, genetics and overall health. Rejuvenation Medicine is dynamic and evolving. I am proud to be involved in such a fascinating and innovative field!
By Bartley Harvard Kerr, DC
NRC Founder and CEO
What would you buy if you were a billionaire? I sometimes ask myself that question in my down time, whether being stuck in traffic, in dinner conversation, or when I am trying to fall asleep. Would you want to get a nice new house (or two!), a rare sports car, or maybe do some traveling to exotic and exclusive locations. But what’s next? As it turns out, I would probably spend the money a lot like the guys who are billionaires.
Many of the current billionaires fascinate me. A good number of them are creative minds, with “out of the box” thinking and the mental clarity and wherewithal to make their visions a reality. This is especially true in the Internet and technology area. These are the innovators that have changed the way we do things and operate our lives.
“What does this have to do with Rejuvenation Medicine,” you ask? There is a connection. I will explain. In many instances, people’s interests go beyond what they are primarily known for. Billionaire’s are no exception to this, and they may use their creativity, infrastructure and wealth to act on their interests. More often than not, these interests include the advancement of healthcare and longevity. The three individuals I am going to focus on are Larry Ellison, Sergey Brin, and Peter Thiel.
Larry Ellison is the founder of Oracle Corporation, a software and hardware company, and is worth well over $20 billion dollars. He has some of the world’s largest and nicest yachts, beautiful homes, and recently purchased one of the Hawaiian Islands!
There is, however, much more to this guy than the things that he buys. It is said that he has a passion for genetics and reversing the aging process. He is founder of the “Larry Ellison Foundation,” and donated $50 million for research in anti-aging therapies. Particularly interesting to me is his foundation’s work on telomeres.
This is from the foundation’s website. Scientist’s have “determined that cells growing in culture can only keep dividing through about 50 doublings before they fall into senescence (growing old) and stop growing. An important part of this genetic timing mechanism seems to be the telomere, a DNA-based structure that decorates the tip ends of each chromosome. Research has shown that each time a somatic cell divides all of its telomeres lose a little bit of length. They keep getting shorter until they get so small they shut down cell division, inducing cell senescence.”
“There’s also an enzyme called telomerase, which rebuilds telomeres in stem cells, allowing them to keep on dividing indefinitely for the sake of reproduction and wound repair. And telomerase is also “turned on,” perhaps accidentally, in cancer cells, which exploit immortality – with lethal results.
Thus research into telomeres, telomerase, their relationships, activities and impacts is one of the hottest areas of biomedical research, being important in aging, cancer, and genome science.”
I have only seen Larry Ellison in photographs, but at 67 years old, he doesn’t look a day 45! I will be keeping an eye and his research, as telomeres and genetics may be the future of anti-aging.
Sergey Brin, cofounder of the search engine Google (and no friend of Larry Ellison due to their recent court battle over certain technology issues), shares a passion for genetics as well. Worth almost $20 billion dollars, Brin invested in a company called 23andme. Sergey’s wife, Anne Wojcicki, an equally creative and “out of the box” thinker, founded 23andme, a genetic testing company. It revolves around a simple saliva test that can inform the patient of an incredible amount of genetic data, including many sicknesses and diseases that the person is susceptible to get. A treatment plan can then be devised for the patient to decrease their chances of getting the problem or postponing it until a cure or better treatment comes along.
Brin found out, through 23andme, that he has a 50% chance of developing Parkinson’s disease and is very proactive in postponing or preventing it from affecting him. With continued research from the geneticists at 23andme, an interesting development happened less than a year ago. This is taken from “Business Insider’s” website: 23andMe, a privately held genetic testing startup, announced today that it has identified a gene that could reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking and difficulty with walking, movement and coordination. Individuals with the LRRK2 variation in their genetic code have a fifty-fifty chance of developing Parkinson’s disease, Wojcicki said. 23andMe found that some individuals without the disease but with the LRRK2 variation had another gene that could reduce the risk of Parkinson’s in individuals with the LRRK2 variation.
“It’s spectacular, my husband has this variation called LRRK 2,” she (Wojcicki) said.
Academics “jaws dropped” when they found out 23andMe had made a discovery of that caliber, she said. That’s because most pharmaceutical companies keep data close to the chest so they retain a competitive advantage over other companies, she said.
“Through the research is the first time that consumers having participant driven research, we’ve been able to identify the gene SGK1 that looks like it’s a modifier and protecting against LRRK2 (a gene associated with increased risk of Parkinson’s),” 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki said. “The community has been so successful that in such a short time frame we found something that could be a modifier that could lead to a druggable target.”
23andme has fascinated me for a long time and I love the many different potential applications of its technologies.
Peter Thiel is a billionaire that developed PayPal, and was one of the first investors in Facebook. Heavily into anti-aging and staying healthy, Thiel pledged $3.5 million to the Methuselah Foundation, which provides funding for rejuvenation and longevity research. From their web page: “Instead of accepting the physical and mental losses associated with aging we look for answers and solutions. Not for one disease but for the general loss of functionality and productivity that we all experience. We are a catalyst for progress – seeking, supporting and rewarding science that extends healthy lifespan.”
Thiel is also a supporter of the SENS Foundation, which promotes “regenerative medicine”. From their website: “SENS is an acronym for “Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence”. It is best defined as an integrated set of medical techniques designed to restore youthful molecular and cellular structure to aged tissues and organs.” “This broadly defined regenerative medicine – which includes the repair of living cells and extracellular material in situ – applied to damage of aging, is what we refer to as rejuvenation biotechnologies.”
Thiel does not stop there, as he is also is behind “Breakout Labs” which provides funds for “early stage radical ideas” in an effort to “energize innovative research.” From their website: “Through Breakout Labs, we’re reshaping the way early-stage science is funded, so that early-stage companies can advance their most radical ideas. Venture capital firms want research that can be quickly brought to market, and federal funding offers little room for risky, unproven ideas. We are jumping into this funding gap to energize innovative research.”
Like Larry Ellison, Thiel likes the idea of island life and been working with the “Seasteading Institute” which manufactures large, free-floating islands similar to oil rigs in hopes to create “sovereign nations in international waters, free from laws of any country.” (This has nothing to do with Rejuvenation Medicine, but I find it fascinating, and shows you how this type of mind works.)
It appears that today’s successful innovators have a passion to change, or move medicine forward. Their epitaphs may focus more on their contributions to health and longevity than the success they are currently enjoying in their respective businesses. One thing is for sure, I will be following what these people and others are doing in regards to age management, genetics and overall health. Rejuvenation Medicine is dynamic and evolving. I am proud to be involved in such a fascinating and innovative field!