“I’m officially a genetically modified person.” Brian Johnson, the multi-millionaire who chased eternal youth.

You probably know The Strange Case of Benjamin ButtonThis 2008 film, in which Brad Pitt plays a man who gets younger over time. This has also become the goal of the multimillionaire. His name is Brian Johnson. From his modern villa in California, this 47-year-old American is putting his enormous wealth and his body to the test to restore the face and shape of his 18-year-old son, Talmage, the eldest of his three children. The only one who still talks to him today.

Just ten years ago, Brian Johnson embodied the American dream: a wealthy businessman (after reselling his online payment company Braintree Venmo to PayPal for $800 million), married to his first girlfriend, a father of two boys and a girl, an ardent practitioner of .. Technology An entrepreneur who is so famous in the United States, however, Brian Johnson is not happy. He gets exhausted at work and suffers from chronic depression. “I had one foot in the grave during Braintree Venmo,” he says in the documentary. Don’t die. The man who wanted to be foreveravailable on Netflix from January 1. It was common for a businessman to go several days without sleep. Now I find it absurd.”

Bad for him, bad for his relationship, bad for his life, he leaves the Mormon religion he grew up in and has been at odds with his children’s mother ever since , and two of them broke the connection with him.

They swallow a hundred pills a day

But Brian Johnson’s new life also begins in 2021 with the Blueprint adventure. Purposeful? Reverse the aging process and gain years (apparently, but also physiologically) To achieve this “Benjamin Button” effect, Brian Johnson spares neither resources nor effort… Every day he carefully follows the longevity protocol developed by a certain doctor Oliver Zollman. A well-oiled routine that’s enough to make you dizzy; swallowing almost a hundred pills a day, a diet limited to simple porridge, vegetables and a few nuts. But also light therapy sessions, LED helmets (to stimulate hair growth), biofeedback (to stimulate the autonomic nervous system via ear electrodes), electromagnetic stimulation of the abdomen. , audiotherapy (to restore hearing), as well as micro-injections, Botox or growth hormones. Add to that a daily 5:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. bedtime, 60 minutes of strength training and 2,000 calorie intake (he’s been fasting since 11 a.m.) Nothing is left to chance. “I’m often hungry,” he admits to the cameras. I’m depressed after my last bite.”

However, the draconian protocol seems to be paying off. Since launching the Blueprint, Brian Johnson has reportedly looked five years younger and found the 37-year-old heart. At least that’s what he says. “This is the first time in human history that it is impossible to know how long and in what state of health I will live,” he boasts to the director of the Netflix documentary, Chris Smith, who followed him for several months I crossed the boundaries of science. To show what is possible.” Taking courses of rapamycin, a molecule used to limit the risks of transplant rejection, is part of Brian Johnson’s clinical trials. And to give his own to his old father.A technique which is obviously debated (as are many of its initiatives) and which brings to mind many myths and legends about drinking or bathing in the blood of young virgins to rejuvenate…

“He’s a crook”

However, all this is not without risk. And above all, the search for Brian Johnson’s youth will have no benefit for science for science, he’s just looking for attention.”

Many people on social networks point to Brian Johnson’s behavior. “He is a deceiver. “It doesn’t matter if he really believes he’s going to be immortal or not, he’s trying to make money by manipulating people who are terrified of death and willing to spend their money on frivolities,” said blogger and podcaster Rebecca Watson on YouTube. Because outside of his personal experience, which he documents every day, Brian Johnson launched a business that would be profitable. Including nutritional supplements, snacks and extra virgin and ultra premium olive oil ($60 for two bottles).

Not everyone is of this opinion. Journalist Ashley Vance, author of the best-selling book about Elon Musk, knows Brian Johnson well. For him, the multimillionaire would not move here with business problems. “He’s resorted to a very drastic lifestyle to deal with his mental health issues,” says this journalist who specializes in tech entrepreneurs.

Looking for eternal love?

Brian Johnson is reportedly looking for love, but the American remains cautious. There’s no way he’s going to change his ways for anyone. And even less since his affair with a woman named Taryn Southen ended up in court. “Let’s just say the couple was never my forte,” admits the chief I got married at the age of 24 and never had a girlfriend before. So thirteen years later, when I got divorced, I didn’t know how to manage a relationship.”

In this case, Taryn South shared Brian Johnson’s life for three years, from meeting in 2016 until the fall of 2019. The couple got engaged and moved in together in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. But the fairy tale turns into a nightmare. The content creator, who now has nearly 85,000 Instagram followers, has learned that she is suffering from aggressive breast cancer.

She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy to treat herself when suddenly her fiancé left her, “while [lui] repeatedly assuring her to stop worrying about money and promising to take care of her for the rest of her life… People . Despite “no longer having a stable income” to pay her medical bills, Taryn South refused. Instead, he demanded $9 million in damages from his ex-partner for “emotional distress” and “financial losses.” In her complaint, the young woman alleges that Brian Johnson forced her to leave her career and volunteer her time to work for him for free on Blueprint’s creation and commercial development, content writing and video production.

Advanced man

While waiting to find love, Brian Johnson remains obsessed with his quest for eternal youth.The latest step he’s taken is gene therapy, a medical technique that alters the DNA of patients to heal them. The entrepreneur, in turn, experimented with it to increase his muscle mass and push back his biological age.Since it was not available in the United States, he had no choice but to fly to Prospera, one of the islands of Honduras in the Caribbean. “I’m officially a genetically modified human,” he boasts at the end Don’t die. If the intervention, here, the injection into the abdominal cavity, a priori went without any obstacles, it remains very dangerous. And it raises ethical questions. Brian Johnson himself talks about them. “When people see me undergoing gene therapy, for many it is a symbol of inequality or the gap between the rich and the poor. My vision is different. If we can prove that this therapy is effective and safe, and that 10,000 people are willing to use it, then its cost will decrease. If Brian Johnson turned his back on Mormonism a few years ago, he seems to have turned his eternal youth into a new religion.