Meet Jared Isaacman, the billionaire leading SpaceX’s risky mission to take the first private spacewalk

At the age of 15, Isaacman decided to drop out of high school and take the GED, according to the Netflix docuseries “Countdown Inspiration4 Mission to Space.”

“I was a horrible student,” Isaacman said in the series. “And I wasn’t like happy in school either.”

Isaacman described his younger self as independent and said he didn’t understand things like raising your hand to go to the bathroom.

Isaacman first founded United Bank Card in 1999.

The company, now called Shift4, offers mobile payment software, point-of-sale solutions, and online payments for various businesses.

Isaacman said in the Netflix docuseries that when he first started the company, he would wake up every day at 7:30 a.m. and fall asleep on the keyboard at two or three in the morning.

By 2020, Isaacman took the company public. Today, Shift4 processes over $260 billion annually and serves over 200,000 customers, according to its website.

Isaacman has known his wife, Monica Isaacman, for most of his life. The two came from the same town and got married in 2012. They now live in New Jersey with their two daughters.

Isaacman’s wife said in the docuseries that she had good and bad dreams leading up to his first SpaceX mission. She said while she wouldn’t want him to compromise on his dreams of going to space, she worries about what could happen if something went wrong.

Isaacman founded Draken International in 2012. The company is a private air force provider that trains pilots for the US military, the UK, and NATO countries.

In 2019, Isaacman sold the company to Blackstone.

Isaacman hit billionaire status in 2020 after selling Draken International and taking Shift4 public. His net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Isaacman said in the Netflix docuseries that he took an early interest in flying and went to flight school at a local airport in 2004. At the time, he was feeling burned out from starting his company and described flying as “therapeutic.” Isaacman also set a world speed record for flying around the globe in 2009.

“I do believe you only get one crack at life,” Isaacman said in the Netflix docuseries. “To the extent you have the means to do so, you have this obligation to live life to the fullest. You never know when it’s going to be your last day.”

Isaacman said in the docuseries that this philosophy has taken him to fly in airshows as part of a seven-ship formation acrobatic team and on mountain climbing expeditions in Antarctica.

Isaacman has been involved in several charitable causes and organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

His first SpaceX mission raised over $240 million for St. Jude and was named Inspiration4 to inspire support and raise awareness for the research hospital.

Isaacman and his wife have also committed to The Giving Pledge, a charitable campaign founded by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett in 2010. The Giving Pledge serves as a commitment from wealthy people to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.

Isaacman funded and led the first civilian mission to space in 2021 called Inspiration4. The mission was carried out by SpaceX ‘s Dragon capsule.

Isaacman previously told BI that the prep for the mission was extensive and involved lots of studying and physical tests.

“The academics were pretty intense,” Isaacman said, adding that there were thousands of pages across a hundred different manuals to learn about SpaceX’s Falcon and Dragon aircraft.

It also involved drawing blood from each other and learning how to take skin samples to prepare for increased radiation levels on the trip.