'' LONGEVITY '' -TECHNOLOGY'S- LONGITUDE : MASTER GLOBAL ESSAY

LOS ANGELES : In 2016, Mr. Johnson founded KERNEL, a brain technology start-up. He had turned down the chance to establish a similar company with Elon Musk, who created his own such firm, NEURALINK.

In a Netflix documentary released in January,  Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur turned longevity guru, walked people through his morning routine.

After tracking his sleep, he would wake up early to conduct audio-therapy and hair therapy, do an hour of exercise and take 54 different pills with a drink called '' the green giant, '' he said.

Mr. Johnson also talked about his long-life start-up Blueprint, which sells health supplements, blood-testing equipment and other products tied to his personal diet and recommendations.

'' By doing Blueprint, one of the lady objectives is to achieve the lowest biological age,'' he declared. He added that his health regimen had reversed my biological age 5.1 years.''

The Netflix feature was a breakout moment in Mr. Johnson's five-year campaign to become the face of one of Silicon Valley's most oddball fascinations : the pursuit of everlasting youth.

The 47-year-old former Mormon missionary has become known for experimenting on his own body to defy ageing, captivating the media and his nearly four-million social media followers by receiving the blood plasma of his then 17-year-old son and repeatedly shocking his penis to increase erections.

His fame has also appeared to catapult  Blueprint to success. In January, Mr. Johnson hailed his start-up as '' one of the fastest growing companies in the world, fueled by word of mouth.''

But away from the cameras, his carefully curated profile and Blueprint's business are starting to show cracks - especially with a brewing fight over Mr. Johnson's use of a legal document : confidentiality agreements.

For nearly a decade, Mr. Johnson has wielded confidentiality agreements to control his image and the companies he built atop that image.

His employees, sexual partners, vendors and contract workers have all had to sign the documents, sometimes in exchange for settlements, severance or continued employment at his firms, according to people close to him and his start-ups, internal documents and court records.

Mr. Johnson declined to answer many questions from The Times. In a post on X he said confidentiality agreements '' try to create clear boundaries and expectations, so that Trust isn't left to chance."

This Master Essay Publishing, continues to Part [2 ]. The World Students Society thanks Kirsten Grind.