Venture capitalist Peter Thiel is planning to reach 120 in age and is on a special diet to make it happen.
The 47-year-old investor, who co-founded PayPal and made an early bet on Facebook Inc, said he’s taking human growth hormone every day in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg Television’s Emily Chang.
“It helps maintain muscle mass, so you’re much less likely to get bone injuries, arthritis,” Thiel said in an interview in August. “There’s always a worry that it increases your cancer risk but — I’m hopeful that we’ll get cancer cured in the next decade.” Thiel said he also follows a Paleo diet, doesn’t eat sugar, drinks red wine and runs regularly.
Thiel’s Founders Fund is investing in a number of biotechnology companies to extend human lifespans, including Stem CentRx Inc., which uses stem cell technology for cancer therapy and Modern Meadow Inc., which is aiming to grow leather and meat in labs. Thiel said, however, that “it’s not yet clear whether people will eat it.”
In the interview, taped before the publication of Thiel’s book, “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future,” he offers his thoughts on the state of the technology industry today. When it comes to business longevity, Thiel predicted that Google Inc. will outlast Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and even Facebook Inc., where he serves on the board.
Watch Chang’s full interview with Thiel on Studio 1.0 Thursday at 8:30 pm ET and PT on Bloomberg TV, or stream it at www.bloomberg.com/TV.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Emily Chang in San Francisco atechang68@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam at ptam13@bloomberg.net Reed Stevenson
