# Jared Isaacman

Jared Taylor Isaacman (born February 11, 1983) is an American entrepreneur, pilot, philanthropist, and commercial astronaut. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in January 2025 to serve as the next administrator of NASA. He is the founder of Draken International, which provides adversary training to the US, British, and other NATO air forces, and the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a payment processor. Through his leadership in private space exploration, Isaacman has been credited with advancing competition in the space industry and reducing reliance on government programs. As of September 2024, his estimated net worth is US$1.9 billion.
Isaacman was the commander of Inspiration4, a private spaceflight using SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience, launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 16, 2021. The crew returned to Earth on September 18, 2021, after orbiting at 585 km (364 mi) in altitude. The mission was part of a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to which Isaacman pledged to donate $100 million. In total to date, Isaacman has donated over $125 million to St. Jude.
Isaacman commanded the Polaris Dawn mission, the first private spaceflight in a series of missions named the Polaris Program. During this mission, on September 12, 2024, Isaacman became the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk.

## Early life

Isaacman was born on February 11, 1983, at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, to Donald and Sandra Marie Isaacman. He is the youngest of four children. His siblings include brothers Marc, Michael, and sister Tiffany. Isaacman and his family lived in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, before moving to Westfield, New Jersey, sometime around April 1987.
He attended Wilson Elementary School in Westfield, from kindergarten through sixth grade.
The family moved to the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township, New Jersey, when Isaacman was 12, where he attended William Annin Middle School. After setting up a company that offered computer services with a friend while attending Ridge High School, he was offered a full-time job as a technician and dropped out of school at the start of his junior year in September 1999, earning a Graduation Equivalency Degree.
He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide Campus, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics.

## Career
### Business

In 1999, Isaacman founded a retail payment processing company named United Bank Card, which was later renamed Harbortouch, a point-of-sale payment company based in Pennsylvania. He was the founding CEO, and retained that role in 2015 with the company having "been profitable for over a decade [while processing] US$11 billion a year from 60,000 merchants, generating US$300 million in revenues." By 2020, the company had been renamed Shift4 Payments, Isaacman remained CEO, and the company was processing US$200 billion in payments annually. In the same year, Isaacman took Shift4 public, and also began processing payments for SpaceX's satellite-internet business, Starlink.
In 2012, he co-founded Draken International, a Florida-based company that trains pilots for the United States Armed Forces. The company operates one of the world's largest fleets of privately owned fighter jets.

### Pilot

He is flight-qualified in multiple military jet aircraft. Isaacman continues to perform at airshows with his Black Diamond Jet Team that he co-founded in 2010.
In 2008, he made a first attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, falling short by traveling around the world in 83 hours, just beyond the existing record of 82 hours. The record attempt was a fundraising event for Make-A-Wish Foundation.
In April 2009, on his second attempt, he set a world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, making the flight in 61:51:15, about 20 hours faster than the previous record of 82 hours. The world record attempt was made as a fundraising event for Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey. He flew a Cessna Citation CJ2 with two other crew members, skipping stops in India and Japan, where he encountered hours-long ground delays in his previous attempt in 2008.
Isaacman received the call sign "Rook" during flight training. "Rook" himself has stated many times that his nickname was given to him when he started flying fighters.

### Private spaceflight
#### Inspiration4

In February 2021, Isaacman announced that he would serve as commander of Inspiration4, the first private human spaceflight in which none of the people aboard were from a government agency. The mission was operated by SpaceX, on board an autonomous Crew Dragon spacecraft launched by a Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
In August 2021, the crew of Inspiration4, including Isaacman, was featured on the cover of a Time magazine double issue.
On September 15, 2021 (UTC), Inspiration4 launched and achieved orbit. The mission splashed down 3 days later.
During the Inspiration4 mission, Isaacman made the first-known sports bet from space, placing two bets on NFL football with the BetMGM Sportsbook, while over Las Vegas.

#### Polaris Dawn

In September 2024, Isaacman commanded the Polaris Dawn mission, which is part of a crewed spaceflight program called the Polaris program. The crew consisted of Isaacman, Kidd (Scott) Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. who rose to a record-breaking apogee of 1,400 km (870 mi) and later lower to a 700 km (430 mi) apogee. The crew completed a multi-hour EVA on September 12, 2024, with all crew exposed to the vacuum of space, although Isaacman and Sarah Gillis individually conducted what is termed Stand-up Extravehicular Activities or SEVAs. Over the five-day flight, the crew performed about 40 different science experiments and provided more insight into life in space. The crew also completed the first crewed demonstration of Starlink laser communication in space.

### Administrator of NASA

On December 4, 2024, Isaacman was nominated by Donald Trump to serve as the 15th administrator of NASA, becoming the first ever nominee of the agency to be picked by a President-elect. His official nomination was made on Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025, giving Trump the distinction of having both the earliest and latest nominations for NASA following his September 2017 nomination of Jim Bridenstine during his first administration. Isaacman has not been confirmed to the position by the United States Senate; upon completion of the hearing process, he would be succeeding acting administrator Janet Petro upon his confirmation.

## Personal life

He is Jewish, although he has stated that he is not religious.
He is married and has two daughters. Isaacman has been a resident of Washington Township, Warren County, New Jersey.