Tech mogul Bryan Johnson ripped over his anti-aging regimen
The middle-aged uber-wealthy venture capitalist who spends some $2 million per year to turn back his biological clock to age 18 said he has been inundated with criticism on social media from trolls who accuse him of being a “narcissist”.
Bryan Johnson, the 45-year-old tech mogul who sold payments processor Braintree to eBay for $800 million in cash a decade ago, tweeted a list of insults that have been hurled at him online since Bloomberg News published a profile on Wednesday detailing his extreme anti-aging regimen.
“Should we tell him he does not look 18?” a critic on social media commented. “How about while he’s at it, get a face transplant?” another Twitter user remarked, adding: “He looks 91!”
“It’s a buttload of work,” another Twitter user quipped, responding to reports that Johnson also wants to keep his internal organs — including his rectum — functioning youthfully.
“Can I have your prostate when you’re done with it?” another Twitter user wrote.
“Don’t leave us hanging. Show us some stats,” said another in response to Johnson’s admission that, while he sleeps, he’s hooked up to machines that send electromagnetic pulses to his pelvis and count his nighttime erections.
One person wondered whether Johnson, who employs an army of 30 doctors and medical professionals to de-age his organs, “might want to add a psychiatrist to his list of doctors.”
Another naysayer opined: “He sounds like a total weirdo.”
Johnson’s routine consists of daily exercise, regular blood tests, and a strict, vegan diet. He also wears specialized glasses which block blue light two hours before bedtime.
His critics, however, were unimpressed.
“He look like a raw chicken,” one commenter wrote.
“Maybe he chokes on a piece of broccoli or mushroom,” one Twitter user commented.
Another suggested: “He should eat a cheeseburger in real time for charity.”
Johnson is one of several Silicon Valley tech moguls who have spent large sums of money toward researching ways to boost human longevity.
But the pie-in-the-sky notion of eternal youth struck some as far-fetched.
“Eat right, exercise, die anyway,” remarked one Twitter user. “This is narcissism gone wild.”
Despite the torrent of abuse, Johnson appeared unfazed.
“Responses today were surprisingly tame,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “Haters, I know you are hard at work creating zingers, take-downs, and insults.”
He added: I’m looking forward to them!”
Johnson told Bloomberg News that while he was building up Braintree, he became overweight, depressed, and nearly suicidal — a result of an accumulation of stress and working long hours.
He recently founded another startup, Kernel, which manufactures a $50,000-apiece helmet that is said to be able to read brain waves.
“What I do may sound extreme, but I’m trying to prove that self-harm and decay are not inevitable,” Johnson told Bloomberg News.