In a Netflix documentary launched in January, Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur turned longevity guru, walked individuals by 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 completely different capsules with a drink known as “the inexperienced large,” he stated.
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-reduction plan and suggestions.
“By doing Blueprint, one of many key aims is to attain the bottom doable organic age,” he declared. He added that his well being routine had “reversed my organic age 5.1 years.”
The Netflix function was a breakout second in Mr. Johnson’s five-year marketing campaign to develop into 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 develop into recognized for experimenting on his personal physique to defy getting older, charming the media and his practically 4 million social media followers by receiving the blood plasma of his then-17-year-old son and repeatedly stunning 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 battle over Mr. Johnson’s use of a authorized doc: confidentiality agreements.
For practically a decade, Mr. Johnson has wielded confidentiality agreements to regulate his picture and the businesses he constructed atop that picture. His workers, sexual companions, distributors and contract staff have all needed to signal the paperwork, generally in trade for settlements, severance or continued employment at his corporations, in response to individuals near him and his start-ups, inside paperwork and court docket information.
Now these agreements, which had been supposed to maintain individuals silent on Mr. Johnson’s private life and companies, are backfiring as a few of his staff band collectively to problem them.
At the very least three of Mr. Johnson’s former workers — together with a former fiancée who labored for him — have just lately filed complaints with the Nationwide Labor Relations Board, a federal watchdog company, about his confidentiality agreements. They stated the phrases they signed had been “overbroad” and accused Mr. Johnson of violating federal legal guidelines that shield staff who need to talk about their office situations, in response to 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 workers and others with information of the corporate stated.
Oliver Zolman, Mr. Johnson’s longtime longevity physician, who was featured within the Netflix documentary, quietly left Blueprint final yr after having issues about a few of its well being dietary supplements, the individuals stated. Final fall, Mr. Johnson additionally advised Blueprint executives that the corporate was working out of cash.
Mr. Johnson’s objective was “to make use of these contractual agreements to maintain everybody quiet,” and that effort “sort of was a home of playing cards,” stated Matt Bruenig, the lawyer for the previous workers 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, stated she “positively felt coerced into signing the agreements” as a result of she thought she would lose her job if she didn’t accomplish that.
The New York Occasions interviewed 30 individuals near Mr. Johnson and his start-ups, together with present and former workers. Many spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of they had been sure by the confidentiality phrases and feared retaliation from Mr. Johnson. The Occasions additionally reviewed copies of the agreements, court docket information, inside paperwork, pictures and the N.L.R.B. complaints.
Mr. Johnson declined to reply many questions from The Occasions. In a put up on X earlier than this text was printed, he stated confidentiality agreements “attempt to create clear boundaries and expectations, in order that belief isn’t left to probability.”
After The Occasions contacted Mr. Johnson, he privately pushed individuals in his orbit to abide by the agreements, individuals aware of his outreach stated. One authorized letter despatched final month reminded a former worker that they had been “strictly prohibited from utilizing, disclosing or misappropriating any confidential, proprietary or commerce secret info belonging to the corporate or Bryan R. Johnson,” in response to 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 stated.
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 commenced a part of exploration.
Mr. Johnson divorced his spouse, with whom he has three youngsters, and left the Mormon Church. He employed prostitutes, in response to associates, former workers and court docket paperwork, and took medication 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 folks couldn’t converse publicly about his escapades, or discuss to their associates 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 identical firm with Elon Musk, who created his personal such agency, Neuralink.
Mr. Johnson more and more fixated on his fame, in response to former associates and workers, 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 associates stated. She signed however left early, incensed by the settlement.
The confidentiality phrases had been usually connected 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 staff couldn’t discuss.
However as Mr. Johnson transitioned into the longevity trade and targeted on his well being, shedding 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 residence, 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 known as “Bryan’s favorites” listed on the market on the web site. “He’s the healthiest individual on the planet,” Blueprint’s web site claims.
By final yr, a Blueprint employment settlement with confidentiality phrases was 20 pages lengthy and listed dozens of restrictions.
Amongst them: Employees should hold confidential “any nonpublic info concerning Bryan’s residence, workplace, private results in his residence or workplace, any areas rented or owned by Bryan, any autos/planes/cars/boats/different strategies of transportation that aren’t publicly accessible, or areas of his residence or such area that aren’t publicly accessible,” in response to a duplicate.
In his X put up, Mr. Johnson stated the agreements “have advanced, similar to all the things else I iterate & enhance upon.” He added, “The objective is precision.”
Workers at Blueprint, which has a employees of about 30, generally needed to signal as many as three separate agreements. That’s atypical for worker agreements, in response to authorized consultants.
One was an uncommon “opt-in” doc, which isn’t a confidentiality contract however goals to guard the corporate from potential lawsuits over what workers may witness within the office.
Underneath that settlement, workers needed to attest that they had been OK with Mr. Johnson’s sporting “little and generally no clothes/no underwear” and with listening to “discussions of sexual actions, together with erections,” in response to a duplicate. In addition they needed to agree that Mr. Johnson’s habits was not “unwelcome, offensive, humiliating, hostile, triggering, unprofessional or abusive.”
The opt-in settlement was “truthful to all involved and is in everybody’s finest curiosity,” Mr. Johnson posted on X.
Many rich people and firms use confidentiality agreements. However Cliff Palefsky, an employment lawyer in San Francisco, stated some features of Mr. Johnson’s agreements had 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,” stated Mr. Palefsky, who reviewed the paperwork for The Occasions.
Longevity combine
By early final yr, some Blueprint workers had been rising pissed off with the confidentiality agreements as the corporate skilled issues, individuals who have labored there stated.
Amongst them had been questions on Blueprint’s well being dietary supplements. The corporate sells a couple of dozen completely different proprietary dietary supplements, together with a $49 “longevity combine,” in response to its web site. Dietary supplements are topic to lighter regulation than medicines.
On the time, Mr. Johnson and his management crew, together with Dr. Zolman, requested for volunteers to affix a examine of the dietary supplements and meals known as “The Blueprint Stack.” The objective was to look at the consequences of the merchandise on individuals’s well being, in response to the individuals and inside paperwork seen by The Occasions.
Some executives, together with Dr. Zolman, needed to comply with customary scientific testing procedures for the examine and select customers to check at random, the individuals stated. However Mr. Johnson had clients pay greater than $2,100 to take part, they stated. He promised them he would launch the outcomes by the summer time of 2024.
Of the roughly 1,700 members within the examine, about 60 % skilled not less than one aspect impact, in response to inside emails, spreadsheets and different paperwork. Blood checks revealed that members noticed their testosterone ranges drop and have become prediabetic after following Mr. Johnson’s weight-reduction plan plan. It’s unclear how extreme the unintended effects had been.
“Longevity combine: Plenty of feedback about hating this as it’s making them sick, vomit, have heartburn, and so forth.,” 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 triggered points. “TONS of individuals saying it’s inflicting nausea, bloating,” wrote an worker.
In an e-mail to The Occasions, Mr. Johnson stated the outcomes confirmed “frequent unintended effects with any meals, beverage or complement.” Blueprint merchandise are at all times improved, he stated, and are examined for security. He added that it was typical in a self-experimentation examine to not cowl members’ prices.
Workers felt they might not share the findings due to the confidentiality agreements, in response to the emails and textual content messages.
Final summer time, Dr. Zolman left Blueprint after elevating issues concerning the examine’s outcomes, individuals aware of his departure stated. He had signed a nondisclosure settlement, however Mr. Johnson needed him to signal one other one in return for a month of severance, they stated. Dr. Zolman declined due to the stringent phrases.
Mr. Johnson didn’t publish the examine’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, exhibiting constructive outcomes. The dietary supplements proceed to be offered.
In an e-mail to The Occasions, Mr. Johnson stated metrics about Blueprint’s dietary supplements “transitioned to or stayed within the regular vary all through everything of the examine.” 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 depart for these causes, individuals with information of his departure stated.
On the similar time, Blueprint bumped into monetary challenges. Whereas income elevated final yr to about $40 million and the corporate has about 40,000 clients, it was falling beneath its break-even level by not less than $1 million a month, individuals with information of the enterprise stated. Mr. Johnson, who had put in $25 million as Blueprint’s sole investor, warned executives that the corporate was working out of cash. Its present funds are unclear.
This yr, a recruiting e-mail described Blueprint as “already worthwhile,” in response to a duplicate of the message.
Mr. Johnson has additionally generally cherry-picked the rosiest metrics for his personal well being experiments, former workers and others stated, significantly to highlight his “organic age,” which refers to how effectively his organs and different physique elements are functioning.
Within the Netflix documentary, which was largely filmed in 2023, Mr. Johnson stated his organic age had reversed 5.1 years. However the outcomes of a spread of inside research of his well being between January 2022 and February 2024 confirmed it had elevated by as a lot as 10 years, in response to charts of the blood take a look at outcomes. It’s unclear what his present checks present.
In an e-mail, Mr. Johnson stated that the “resolution to focus on the 5.1 yr discount was made solely by the documentary’s manufacturing crew” and that the statistic got here from an experiment performed in early 2023. He stated “organic age measurements fluctuate” relying on the take a look at and different elements.
‘Simply didn’t really feel proper’
Worker issues flared final spring when Blueprint despatched the opt-in settlement, requiring staff to say they had been OK with many office behaviors. It landed in e-mail inboxes with directions to signal as a traditional course of enterprise.
Many workers signed, however their issues mounted. With Blueprint run from Mr. Johnson’s residence, the road between his private life and enterprise generally was hazy, former workers and others near Mr. Johnson stated.
Throughout workdays, Mr. Johnson ceaselessly walked round with little clothes on, and generally flirted with Blueprint’s largely feminine employees, they stated. However due to the opt-in settlement, nobody felt capable of may complain.
Ms. Contento, who had additionally labored at Kernel, stated she had been at Blueprint for a yr when she was requested to signal the opt-in settlement. She agreed as a result of she didn’t need to lose her job, she stated, however “the doc simply didn’t really feel proper.”
Final fall, Ms. Contento left Blueprint. On the time, she emailed human sources to boost issues concerning the work setting, which she stated “started to alter in ways in which made me really feel uncomfortable,” in response to 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 stated 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
At the same time as issues grew over what Mr. Johnson was saying publicly versus privately, many workers had been afraid to problem him and his confidentiality agreements.
That they had 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 response to a 2021 lawsuit she filed towards him.
Mr. Johnson had pressured her to signal an employment separation settlement with confidentiality phrases, the lawsuit stated. 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 stated in her first interview concerning the expertise.
Many Blueprint workers adopted the developments in Ms. Southern’s lawsuit, wherein she contended that Mr. Johnson had breached a promise to pay her $150,000 in trade for lease and shifting out of their residence 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 stated 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 received greater than 500,000 views.
Ms. Southern felt she couldn’t reply due to the confidentiality phrases. (4 individuals near the couple stated that they’d 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 all the things I needed to undergo — that was all terrible,” stated Ms. Southern, whose most cancers is in remission. “However what felt worse was not with the ability to share the reality once I was being publicly attacked.”
Mr. Johnson has not paid Ms. Southern the $150,000. In his YouTube video, he stated he would arrange a belief so funds from “his accuser” for his authorized charges would go towards her medical bills. Emails seen by The Occasions confirmed he opened the belief final yr, then closed it with out placing cash into it.
Final summer time, Ms. Southern filed a grievance towards Kernel and Mr. Johnson to the N.L.R.B., saying the confidentiality phrases violated a provision of labor regulation that protects workers who need to talk about office situations.
Whereas Ms. Southern continues to be sure by the settlement’s phrases, she stated she selected to talk to The Occasions about her working situations to characterize Mr. Johnson’s workers.
Different workers heard about Ms. Southern’s authorized technique. In February, Ms. Contento, the previous assistant to Mr. Johnson, filed an identical grievance to the N.L.R.B. by the identical lawyer, Mr. Bruenig. Ms. Southern stated Ms. Contento had realized about him by her grievance. A 3rd former worker of Mr. Johnson’s quickly filed a grievance much like the opposite two.
As a result of the staff filed in a concerted effort towards Mr. Johnson, federal regulation protects their potential to discuss office situations, Mr. Bruenig stated. He added that the N.L.R.B. was investigating Ms. Southern’s grievance.
The N.L.R.B. didn’t return requests for remark. Ryan Subject, Kernel’s chief government, stated the corporate was cooperating with the investigation. Mr. Johnson has introduced in David Broderdorf, an employment lawyer at Morgan Lewis, in response to filings with the N.L.R.B.
A few of Mr. Johnson’s present and former workers at the moment are usually chatting with each other about their experiences at his firms, Ms. Southern stated.
“We hope to convey some sort of constructive ending for different workers,” she stated.
Kirsten Noyes contributed analysis.
