In a Netflix documentary launched in January, Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur turned longevity guru, walked individuals by way of his morning routine. After monitoring his sleep, he would get up early to conduct audio remedy and hair remedy, do an hour of train and take 54 totally different drugs with a drink referred to as “the inexperienced large,” he mentioned.
Mr. Johnson additionally talked about his long-life start-up, Blueprint, which sells well being dietary supplements, blood-testing gear and different merchandise tied to his private weight loss program and proposals.
“By doing Blueprint, one of many key aims is to attain the bottom potential organic age,” he declared. He added that his well being routine had “reversed my organic age 5.1 years.”
The Netflix characteristic was a breakout second in Mr. Johnson’s five-year marketing campaign to turn out to be the face of one in every of Silicon Valley’s most oddball fascinations: the pursuit of eternal youth. The 47-year-old former Mormon missionary has turn out to be identified for experimenting on his personal physique to defy getting old, fascinating the media and his almost 4 million social media followers by receiving the blood plasma of his then-17-year-old son and repeatedly surprising his penis to extend his erections.
His fame has additionally appeared to catapult Blueprint to success. In January, Mr. Johnson hailed his start-up as “one of many fastest-growing firms on this planet, fueled by phrase of mouth.”
However away from the cameras, his rigorously curated profile and Blueprint’s enterprise are beginning to present cracks — particularly with a brewing struggle over Mr. Johnson’s use of a authorized doc: confidentiality agreements.
For almost a decade, Mr. Johnson has wielded confidentiality agreements to regulate his picture and the businesses he constructed atop that picture. His staff, sexual companions, distributors and contract employees have all needed to signal the paperwork, typically in change for settlements, severance or continued employment at his corporations, in line with individuals near him and his start-ups, inner paperwork and courtroom data.
Now these agreements, which have been supposed to maintain individuals silent on Mr. Johnson’s private life and companies, are backfiring as a few of his employees band collectively to problem them.
No less than three of Mr. Johnson’s former staff — together with a former fiancée who labored for him — have lately filed complaints with the Nationwide Labor Relations Board, a federal watchdog company, about his confidentiality agreements. They mentioned the phrases they signed have been “overbroad” and accused Mr. Johnson of violating federal legal guidelines that shield employees who wish to talk about their office circumstances, in line with copies of two of the complaints and 6 individuals with information of them.
Folks near Mr. Johnson and Blueprint have more and more chafed on the agreements because the start-up has confronted mounting monetary and product-quality questions that some thought needs to be made public, former staff and others with information of the corporate mentioned.
Oliver Zolman, Mr. Johnson’s longtime longevity physician, who was featured within the Netflix documentary, quietly left Blueprint final 12 months after having issues about a few of its well being dietary supplements, the individuals mentioned. Final fall, Mr. Johnson additionally advised Blueprint executives that the corporate was operating out of cash.
Mr. Johnson’s purpose was “to make use of these contractual agreements to maintain everybody quiet,” and that effort “type of was a home of playing cards,” mentioned Matt Bruenig, the lawyer for the previous staff who filed the N.L.R.B complaints.
Jamie Contento, who was Mr. Johnson’s private assistant and who filed one of many N.L.R.B. complaints, mentioned she “positively felt coerced into signing the agreements” as a result of she thought she would lose her job if she didn’t achieve this.
The New York Instances interviewed 30 individuals near Mr. Johnson and his start-ups, together with present and former staff. Many spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of they have been sure by the confidentiality phrases and feared retaliation from Mr. Johnson. The Instances additionally reviewed copies of the agreements, courtroom data, inner paperwork, images and the N.L.R.B. complaints.
Mr. Johnson declined to reply many questions from The Instances. In a put up on X earlier than this text was revealed, he mentioned confidentiality agreements “attempt to create clear boundaries and expectations, in order that belief isn’t left to likelihood.”
After The Instances contacted Mr. Johnson, he privately pushed individuals in his orbit to abide by the agreements, individuals aware of his outreach mentioned. One authorized letter despatched final month reminded a former worker that they have been “strictly prohibited from utilizing, disclosing or misappropriating any confidential, proprietary or commerce secret data belonging to the corporate or Bryan R. Johnson,” in line with a duplicate.
Publicly, Mr. Johnson targeted on different issues. This month, he introduced his personal faith, which is called after his longevity slogan, “Don’t Die.” It might save the human race, he mentioned.
Everlasting life
Mr. Johnson based the funds firm Braintree in 2007 and have become a multimillionaire when PayPal bought the start-up in 2013. He quickly shed his Mormon roots and started a section of exploration.
Mr. Johnson divorced his spouse, with whom he has three youngsters, and left the Mormon Church. He employed prostitutes, in line with pals, former staff and courtroom paperwork, and took medicine together with acid, Ibogaine and DMT.
Mr. Johnson has not publicly addressed his use of acid, however is a proponent of psychedelics like DMT and has the form of its chemical construction tattooed on his arm.
He additionally began utilizing confidentiality agreements. The phrases mandated that individuals couldn’t converse publicly about his escapades, or speak to their pals or household about him.
In 2016, Mr. Johnson based Kernel, a mind know-how start-up. He had turned down the prospect to determine an analogous firm with Elon Musk, who created his personal such agency, Neuralink.
Mr. Johnson more and more fixated on his repute, in line with former pals and staff, and questioned why he was not getting as a lot publicity as Mr. Musk. He turned extra to confidentiality agreements. In 2020, he required a date to signal one earlier than the 2 used acid collectively, two former pals mentioned. She signed however left early, incensed by the settlement.
The confidentiality phrases have been usually hooked up to broader employment agreements at Mr. Johnson’s enterprise. On the time, a Kernel worker settlement with confidentiality clauses was 4 and a half pages lengthy, with few specifics about what employees couldn’t discuss.
However as Mr. Johnson transitioned into the longevity business and targeted on his well being, dropping greater than 50 kilos, the phrases mushroomed. The change was pushed partly by the founding of Blueprint, a start-up at Mr. Johnson’s Los Angeles dwelling, in 2021 to promote well being merchandise to his legions of death-averse followers. (He stepped down from Kernel in 2023 however stays on the board.)
Blueprint’s model is tied to Mr. Johnson’s picture, with pop-ups of his face selling the Netflix documentary and dietary supplements referred to as “Bryan’s favorites” listed on the market on the web site. “He’s the healthiest particular person on the planet,” Blueprint’s website claims.
By final 12 months, a Blueprint employment settlement with confidentiality phrases was 20 pages lengthy and listed dozens of restrictions.
Amongst them: Employees should preserve confidential “any nonpublic data concerning Bryan’s dwelling, workplace, private results in his dwelling or workplace, any areas rented or owned by Bryan, any automobiles/planes/cars/boats/different strategies of transportation that aren’t publicly accessible, or areas of his dwelling or such house that aren’t publicly accessible,” in line with a duplicate.
In his X put up, Mr. Johnson mentioned the agreements “have advanced, similar to every part else I iterate & enhance upon.” He added, “The purpose is precision.”
Staff at Blueprint, which has a workers of about 30, typically needed to signal as many as three separate agreements. That’s atypical for worker agreements, in line with authorized specialists.
One was an uncommon “opt-in” doc, which isn’t a confidentiality contract however goals to guard the corporate from potential lawsuits over what staff would possibly witness within the office.
Underneath that settlement, staff needed to attest that they have been OK with Mr. Johnson’s sporting “little and typically no clothes/no underwear” and with listening to “discussions of sexual actions, together with erections,” in line with a duplicate. In addition they needed to agree that Mr. Johnson’s conduct was not “unwelcome, offensive, humiliating, hostile, triggering, unprofessional or abusive.”
The opt-in settlement was “truthful to all involved and is in everybody’s greatest curiosity,” Mr. Johnson posted on X.
Many rich people and firms use confidentiality agreements. However Cliff Palefsky, an employment lawyer in San Francisco, mentioned some features of Mr. Johnson’s agreements have been overly broad and unenforceable.
Mr. Johnson and his firm are “relying on individuals being afraid and never violating it as a result of they’re afraid,” mentioned Mr. Palefsky, who reviewed the paperwork for The Instances.
Longevity combine
By early final 12 months, some Blueprint staff have been rising annoyed with the confidentiality agreements as the corporate skilled issues, individuals who have labored there mentioned.
Amongst them have been questions on Blueprint’s well being dietary supplements. The corporate sells a few dozen totally different proprietary dietary supplements, together with a $49 “longevity combine,” in line with its web site. Dietary supplements are topic to lighter regulation than medicines.
On the time, Mr. Johnson and his management workforce, together with Dr. Zolman, requested for volunteers to affix a research of the dietary supplements and meals referred to as “The Blueprint Stack.” The purpose was to look at the results of the merchandise on individuals’s well being, in line with the individuals and inner paperwork seen by The Instances.
Some executives, together with Dr. Zolman, needed to observe customary medical testing procedures for the research and select customers to check at random, the individuals mentioned. However Mr. Johnson had clients pay greater than $2,100 to take part, they mentioned. He promised them he would launch the outcomes by the summer time of 2024.
Of the roughly 1,700 members within the research, about 60 p.c skilled no less than one facet impact, in line with inner emails, spreadsheets and different paperwork. Blood exams revealed that members noticed their testosterone ranges drop and have become prediabetic after following Mr. Johnson’s weight loss program plan. It’s unclear how extreme the unwanted side effects have been.
“Longevity combine: Quite a lot of feedback about hating this as it’s making them sick, vomit, have heartburn, and so on.,” one Blueprint worker wrote to a colleague in February 2024.
Allulose, an ingredient within the longevity combine and a sugar different that Mr. Johnson has pitched to his social media followers, additionally brought on points. “TONS of individuals saying it’s inflicting nausea, bloating,” wrote an worker.
In an e mail to The Instances, Mr. Johnson mentioned the outcomes confirmed “frequent unwanted side effects with any meals, beverage or complement.” Blueprint merchandise are all the time improved, he mentioned, and are examined for security. He added that it was typical in a self-experimentation research to not cowl members’ prices.
Staff felt they might not share the findings due to the confidentiality agreements, in line with the emails and textual content messages.
Final summer time, Dr. Zolman left Blueprint after elevating issues in regards to the research’s outcomes, individuals aware of his departure mentioned. He had signed a nondisclosure settlement, however Mr. Johnson needed him to signal one other one in return for a month of severance, they mentioned. Dr. Zolman declined due to the stringent phrases.
Mr. Johnson didn’t publish the research’s outcomes by the summer time of 2024, as he had advised clients he would. In January, he released some information for about 300 members, displaying constructive outcomes. The dietary supplements proceed to be offered.
In an e mail to The Instances, Mr. Johnson mentioned metrics about Blueprint’s dietary supplements “transitioned to or stayed within the regular vary all through the whole thing of the research.” He added that Dr. Zolman had resigned “to hunt skilled assist for his severe psychological well being issues,” with out offering proof. Dr. Zolman didn’t go away for these causes, individuals with information of his departure mentioned.
On the identical time, Blueprint bumped into monetary challenges. Whereas income elevated final 12 months to about $40 million and the corporate has about 40,000 clients, it was falling under its break-even level by no less than $1 million a month, individuals with information of the enterprise mentioned. Mr. Johnson, who had put in $25 million as Blueprint’s sole investor, warned executives that the corporate was operating out of cash. Its present funds are unclear.
This 12 months, a recruiting e mail described Blueprint as “already worthwhile,” in line with a duplicate of the message.
Mr. Johnson has additionally typically cherry-picked the rosiest metrics for his personal well being experiments, former staff and others mentioned, notably to highlight his “organic age,” which refers to how nicely his organs and different physique elements are functioning.
Within the Netflix documentary, which was largely filmed in 2023, Mr. Johnson mentioned his organic age had reversed 5.1 years. However the outcomes of a spread of inner research of his well being between January 2022 and February 2024 confirmed it had elevated by as a lot as 10 years, in line with charts of the blood check outcomes. It’s unclear what his present exams present.
In an e mail, Mr. Johnson mentioned that the “resolution to focus on the 5.1 12 months discount was made fully by the documentary’s manufacturing workforce” and that the statistic got here from an experiment performed in early 2023. He mentioned “organic age measurements fluctuate” relying on the check and different components.
‘Simply didn’t really feel proper’
Worker issues flared final spring when Blueprint despatched the opt-in settlement, requiring employees to say they have been OK with many office behaviors. It landed in e mail inboxes with directions to signal as a traditional course of enterprise.
Many staff signed, however their issues mounted. With Blueprint run from Mr. Johnson’s dwelling, the road between his private life and enterprise typically was hazy, former staff and others near Mr. Johnson mentioned.
Throughout workdays, Mr. Johnson often walked round with little clothes on, and typically flirted with Blueprint’s largely feminine workers, they mentioned. However due to the opt-in settlement, nobody felt in a position to might complain.
Ms. Contento, who had additionally labored at Kernel, mentioned she had been at Blueprint for a 12 months when she was requested to signal the opt-in settlement. She agreed as a result of she didn’t wish to lose her job, she mentioned, however “the doc simply didn’t really feel proper.”
Final fall, Ms. Contento left Blueprint. On the time, she emailed human assets to lift issues in regards to the work setting, which she mentioned “started to alter in ways in which made me really feel uncomfortable,” in line with a duplicate of her message.
“There have been sure skilled boundaries that, from my perspective, appeared to blur over time,” she wrote.
It’s unclear if Blueprint investigated Ms. Contento’s issues. She didn’t signal one other of Mr. Johnson’s confidentiality agreements upon exiting the corporate.
Mr. Johnson mentioned in an e mail that Ms. Contento had “raised no materials complaints or issues concerning the work setting or her function to my information” whereas at Blueprint.
A name for motion
Whilst issues grew over what Mr. Johnson was saying publicly versus privately, many staff have been afraid to problem him and his confidentiality agreements.
They’d a cautionary story: Taryn Southern.
Ms. Southern, 38, was Mr. Johnson’s former fiancée and an worker of his brain-technology start-up, Kernel. In February 2020, Mr. Johnson fired Ms. Southern from the corporate after breaking apart together with her whereas she had Stage 3 breast most cancers, in line with a 2021 lawsuit she filed towards him.
Mr. Johnson had pressured her to signal an employment separation settlement with confidentiality phrases, the lawsuit mentioned. One model of the confidentiality phrases included a $500,000 penalty every time she broke the principles.
“It’s all he appeared to care about, that settlement,” Ms. Southern mentioned in her first interview in regards to the expertise.
Many Blueprint staff adopted the developments in Ms. Southern’s lawsuit, by which she contended that Mr. Johnson had breached a promise to pay her $150,000 in change for lease and transferring out of their dwelling after their breakup.
Mr. Johnson efficiently moved the lawsuit to arbitration. In 2023, an arbitrator dominated that Ms. Southern should adhere to her employment separation settlement, which included phrases that mentioned she couldn’t sue Mr. Johnson.
He then countersued for his authorized charges, with Ms. Southern ordered to pay greater than $584,000 to him.
Mr. Johnson took the authorized battle public. In 2023, he posted a 16-minute YouTube video saying he was a sufferer of “the darkish underground accusation economic system.” He adopted on Valentine’s Day 2024 with a 2,400-word put up on X naming Ms. Southern, saying that he feared she would attempt to kill him with a pair of scissors and that his well being routine had saved her from most cancers. It acquired greater than 500,000 views.
Ms. Southern felt she couldn’t reply due to the confidentiality phrases. (4 individuals near the couple mentioned that that they had by no means heard Ms. Southern threaten to kill Mr. Johnson and that his well being routine didn’t save her from most cancers.) Her social media accounts and e mail inbox full of assaults from Mr. Johnson’s followers.
“Most cancers remedy and my termination and every part I needed to undergo — that was all terrible,” mentioned Ms. Southern, whose most cancers is in remission. “However what felt worse was not with the ability to share the reality after I was being publicly attacked.”
Mr. Johnson has not paid Ms. Southern the $150,000. In his YouTube video, he mentioned he would arrange a belief so funds from “his accuser” for his authorized charges would go towards her medical bills. Emails seen by The Instances confirmed he opened the belief final 12 months, then closed it with out placing cash into it.
Final summer time, Ms. Southern filed a criticism towards Kernel and Mr. Johnson to the N.L.R.B., saying the confidentiality phrases violated a provision of labor regulation that protects staff who wish to talk about office circumstances.
Whereas Ms. Southern continues to be sure by the settlement’s phrases, she mentioned she selected to talk to The Instances about her working circumstances to characterize Mr. Johnson’s staff.
Different staff heard about Ms. Southern’s authorized technique. In February, Ms. Contento, the previous assistant to Mr. Johnson, filed an analogous criticism to the N.L.R.B. by way of the identical lawyer, Mr. Bruenig. Ms. Southern mentioned Ms. Contento had realized about him by way of her criticism. A 3rd former worker of Mr. Johnson’s quickly filed a criticism much like the opposite two.
As a result of the workers filed in a concerted effort towards Mr. Johnson, federal regulation protects their means to discuss office circumstances, Mr. Bruenig mentioned. He added that the N.L.R.B. was investigating Ms. Southern’s criticism.
The N.L.R.B. didn’t return requests for remark. Ryan Discipline, Kernel’s chief government, mentioned the corporate was cooperating with the investigation. Mr. Johnson has introduced in David Broderdorf, an employment lawyer at Morgan Lewis, in line with filings with the N.L.R.B.
A few of Mr. Johnson’s present and former staff are actually repeatedly chatting with each other about their experiences at his firms, Ms. Southern mentioned.
“We hope to convey some type of constructive ending for different staff,” she mentioned.
Kirsten Noyes contributed analysis.
