American billionaire Jared Isaacman is taking the commercial space industry to new heights.
The 39 year old has already been to space, when he bought an entire passenger flight from Elon Musk's SpaceX as part of the Inspiration4 mission, which orbited Earth for three days.
Now, he has bought three more flights from SpaceX under his new Polaris programme, with the first one scheduled for launch later this year, for an undisclosed sum.
The Crew Dragon flight aims to set new records, such as reaching the highest orbit in commercial spaceflight and carrying out the first spacewalk by a private citizen.
The second flight could take place as soon as next year, while the third would be on the Starship, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket. However, Starship has yet to complete a flight without crew to orbit.
With Mr Isaacman spending millions on spaceflight, The National explains who this billionaire is and why he is spending a fortune on travelling to space.
How did he make his fortune?
Mr Isaacman dropped out of school at the age of 16 to run a technology company from his parent’s basement.
He founded the United Bank Card company, which helped small businesses process payments.
By 2018, he was the owner of several financial services companies, which offered customers point-of-sale software.
Now, he runs Shift4, one of the largest payment technology companies in the world that handles more than $200 billion every year.
His net worth in 2020 was at $1.4bn, Forbes said.
Thrill-seeker
Aside from his business ventures, Mr Isaacman is also interested aviation.
At 28, he founded Draken International, which operates a fleet of 80 retired military fighter jets and provides aviation training for the US military and others around the world.
He sold it to the Blackstone Group in 2019 for tens of millions of dollars.
In 2004, he started taking flying lessons. By 2009, he had set a world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet.
For many years, Mr Isaacman also trained fighter jet pilots and made a small fortune from doing so.
Reaching new heights
But, as a space geek since childhood, Mr Isaacman wanted to go further than an aircraft pilot could.
So, in 2021, he bought an entire passenger flight from SpaceX and took three others with him on the world’s first all-civilian spaceflight to orbit.
The mission raised more than $243 million for St. Jude’s Children's Research Hospital.
His new adventure, the Polaris programme, was announced this week. The first flight, called Polaris Dawn, will feature Mr Isaacman as the commander with three passengers, who will spend five days in orbit.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
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The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
THE%20SWIMMERS
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House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
