This may pretty much sound like an excerpt from sci-fi movies but yes it is here and is real. While we all know that billionaires control a significant amount of the world’s wealth and therefore power, what they choose to spend all that money on may surprise you.

As a matter of fact, the richest 1% are projected to control about two-thirds of the world’s economy by 2030. When they aren’t investing in space shuttles or sprawling tech campuses, these super-rich folks are looking at a range of mind-blowing methods to extend their lifespan.

Well, it was researched and here are some of the ways these wealthy guys look to live a little bit longer than they should.

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“Young Blood” Transfusions

I know what you are thinking and yes, you are about 98% right already. Apparently, there are companies out there conducting trials in a bid to study the effects of transfusing blood from young, healthy people into (specifically those between ages 16 and 25) into those who feel they don’t have that much time left.

That’s not to say it’s just for the old since anyone aged 35 and up is also viable for this service. Billionaire PayPal co-founder, Peter Thiel,  is one that has been rumoured for quite some time now about his interest in the bizarre process. This with links to a start-up company, Ambrosia.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Thiel as he has travelled these grounds before through investments in several medical research start-ups looking at ways to extend life via his Breakout Labs fund.

Cryonics

Now I’m sure this will sound familiar probably because you’ve watched such a movie. But if you had the chance to be preserved after death with the possibility of being resuscitated in a future when medical science is at its peak, would you agree to it?

It seems like for some tycoons, the undeniable answer is yes. Peter Thiel (yes, him again) has openly expressed his interest through the huge investments proving that the mega-rich see some real potential in the method of life extension. Moreover one of the most famous people that has been linked to the process of cryonics hs been Walt Disney (yes, the guy, not the company).

There had been rumours that he chose to be frozen to avoid death but those speculations have been debunked over time. However, you should know that the process is very real.

And if you’re wondering how much the process costs, let’s just say the billionaires are paying about Kes 8m to freeze the head or about Kes 20m for the entire body. Got any of that lying around somewhere?

Cryonics Lab at Alcor Cryonics. Image Courtesy Fact Republic

It’s not just humans that can benefit from the freezing process according to the Cryonics Institute which also offers a range of options for pets Kes 500k for cats or dogs or even Kes 100k for a pet bird.  At least the billionaires who choose to give this method a go won’t be lonely in the distant future – assuming that they’re ever unfrozen.

Colonising Space

yes, you have pretty much heard of this a thousand times before. With the occasional news, it seems like every famous billionaire is looking to start a space company to get the hell out of this earth. And we wouldn’t blame them. What shocks though is how much they are willing to spend to colonise other planetary bodies with Mars being the hotcake right now.

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson, Space X’s Elon Musk and Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos are just but the most famous ones that are funding and working on space shuttles to set their sights somewhere else other than earth.

Other than the three there are various billionaires that have already booked tickets to these future trips to space. Trips that cost millions for just a seat. Space X itself is looking to charge Kes 5 billion per person to just reach the International Space Station. Don’t even get us started on how much the others are charging.

Digital Consciousness

If you would consider having your brain uploaded to the cloud then this is for you. What if you knew to do so you’d have to be euthanised as part of the procedure? This is simply for people who know their bodies will stop working soon and just want to exist in whatever form possible.

Yes, the future is here already. According to research company Nectome, this is what’s believed to be the next chapter of human consciousness.

And while this may sound completely unbelievable to you, this what Google’s director of engineering, Ray Kurzweil, has to say:

We’re going to become increasingly non-biological to the point where the non-biological part dominates, and the biological part is not important any more. In fact, the non-biological part – the machine part – will be so powerful it can completely model and understand the biological part.

Apocalypse Insurance

No one knows how specifically the world will end one day. Perhaps the global economy will collapse, Maybe an airborne virus turning us all into zombies, Maybe the violent solar flares turning us all to ash. If this is all starting to sound a little bit paranoid, you obviously aren’t sitting on billions.

Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman has provided the best insight into this mentality, claiming that he had corrective eye surgery and stockpiles weaponry, food and gold coins to make sure he’s ready for a disaster scenario.

If that doesn’t convince then you’ll know that Peter Thiel did buy a 447-acre estate in New Zealand, which he claims is ‘insurance’ against global catastrophes. Facebook’s own Mark Zuckerberg, is on a similar wavelength with a 700-acre plot of land in Hawaii “just in case”.

They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it can certainly get you somewhere fancy to hide while the world ends. So, if you are like one of these Billionaires, there are plenty of investment opportunities in the immortality market. Maybe you want to check on one of those.