‘Pain in the a**’: Bryan Johnson may shut down his anti-ageing startup Blueprint, says philosophy matters more than profit

US tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, known for his $2 million-a-year quest to reverse ageing, is now considering shutting down or selling his biotech company Blueprint, calling it a burden he no longer wants to carry.“Honestly, I am so close to either shutting it down or selling it,” Johnson said in an interview with American magazine Wired published Monday, adding, “I don’t need the money, and it’s a pain-in-the-a** company.”Blueprint, Johnson’s anti-ageing startup, markets itself as a system for longevity, offering supplements, biometric tests, and plant-based nutrition products like a $55 “longevity mix” and $42 mushroom coffee alternative called “Super Shrooms.”But despite the company’s bold pitch, Johnson now says the commercial venture is interfering with his broader ideological mission.Johnson believes running a health-focused company has undermined his credibility in advocating for what he sees as a deeper philosophical movement. “The problem is now people see the business and give me less credibility on the philosophy side,” he said in the interview. “I will not make that trade-off.

It is not worth it to me. So yeah, I don’t want it”, he added.The 47-year-old launched Project Blueprint in 2021, an intensive anti-ageing regimen that includes dozens of daily supplements, strict calorie tracking, and sleep monitoring. At one point, Johnson transfused blood plasma from his teenage son, though he later stopped the practice, saying there were “no benefits detected.”Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that Blueprint was missing its monthly break-even point by at least $1 million, citing internal documents and interviews with staff. Johnson did not address the financial specifics in response to the Times, but said the report was inaccurate. “They painted it like we are in some kind of emergency financial situation. That is not the case,” he said. “We are break-even... We’ve had profitable months, we’ve had loss months.”Johnson also pushed back on criticisms of Blueprint’s use of confidentiality agreements. Multiple former employees, including a former fiancée, filed complaints with the National Labour Relations Board alleging overly restrictive NDAs. Johnson acknowledged the complaints but framed them in the context of his personal experiences with wealth. “When I made that money, I did not understand what it means to have money and how it fundamentally changes your relationship with the entire world,” he said.Aside from Blueprint, Johnson has turned his focus to a new project, launching a religion. In March, he announced the formation of “Don’t Die,” a movement aimed at redefining humanity’s existential priorities in an age of AI. As per Wired, the religion is rooted in a belief that the highest virtue is existence itself.“I’m not arguing for immortality. I’m not arguing for utopia,” he said. “We as a species, our existence is at risk... The single thing we have in common is that nobody wants to die right now. That’s it.”Johnson believes his message is incompatible with running a commercial venture. “Companies come and go. Religions have endured for millennia,” he said, adding that Blueprint started simply because friends asked for the supplements he was taking.Now, he says he’s ready to walk away.