In contrast to billionaires around the world, Mr. Musk does not invest money in life-extending drugs.
While many other billionaires in the world, including Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, are investing in startups that can prolong human life, or even become immortal, Mr. Elon Musk probably is an exception. Although he is still one of the richest people in the world, Mr. Musk shows no interest in prolonging his life to enjoy that huge wealth.
In an interview at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last Wednesday, the Tesla CEO said he has not made any investments in the longevity industry.
” I think it’s important that we die at least some of the time ,” he told Mark Read, CEO of advertising giant WPP. ” If we live too long, I think it will make society rigid. There will be no change in leader because that leader never dies .”
He added that this can discourage new ideas because people won’t change their minds. ” Think of some of the worst individuals in the world. How long would you like them to live? ” He joked about the idea of creating an immortality drug.
Musk has made similar comments in the past. In 2021, he called death “vital to human progress” and added that he didn’t think anyone should “try to live a very long life.”
Meanwhile, many famous figures no less than Mr. Musk in Silicon Valley are making efforts to research longevity, taking advantage of their wealth to fight the effects of aging.
Besides Jeff Bezos, other names like OpenAI’s Peter Thiel and Sam Altman have all invested in companies trying to reverse the aging process at the cellular level. Others, including Google’s Sergey Brin, are using their money to fight age-related diseases, such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
Some entrepreneurs, like Kernel CEO Bryan Johnson, have implemented intensive nutrition, exercise and wellness plans to try to slow or even reverse the aging process.
Not only is he not interested in increasing life expectancy, Mr. Musk is also worried about the impact of population aging on the world. Mr. Musk has even previously warned that human society could collapse if people don’t have 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren and that low 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 rates are one of the “biggest risks to human civilization”.