Jared Isaacman was born on February 11, 1983, to Donald and Sandra Marie Isaacman. He is Jewish, although he has said he is not a religious person despite donating to synagogues.[9][10] He is a youngest child, and has three siblings: two brothers, Marc and Michael, and a sister, Tiffany.[11] While living in Westfield, New Jersey, he attended Wilson Elementary School. Around 1993, the Isaacman family moved from Westfield to the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township. Isaacman attended William Annin Middle School (6–8th grade) from ages 11 to 13, where he met his future wife Monica. He attended Aviation Challenge in Huntsville, Alabama as a child, inspiring his love of aviation.
As a ninth grader and a freshman at Ridge High SchoolinBernards Township, New Jersey, Isaacman discovered that he and his best friend, Brendan Lauber, had a knack for fixing computers and started a computer repair business in his parents' basement called Deco Systems. He also worked at CompUSA in nearby Somerville, NJ.[12] He had begun working, doing computer technical service and repair, when he was 14.[13] Two years later, that work resulted in an offer of a full-time job from one of his clients, and he chose to drop out of high school to take the job, obtaining a GED along the way.[5]
Business career
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."[13] By 2020, the company had been renamed Shift4 Payments, Isaacman remained CEO, and the company was processing US$200 billion in payments annually.[5]
In 2004, Isaacman began taking flying lessons. In 2009, he set a world record for circumnavigating the globe.[13][15] He received a bachelor's degree in professional aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2011. He is flight qualified in multiple military jet aircraft.[5] In his 20s, he flew in many airshows, but by his 30s, he had stopped flying as such.[14]
He is married and has two daughters.[16] Isaacman married Monica of New Jersey in 2011. She went to middle school with Jared, and later worked at UBC. Isaacman entered into a relationship with Monica in 2002. [17] Isaacman has been a resident of Washington Township, New Jersey.[18]
Personal endeavors
Air show pilot
While in his 20s, Isaacman performed in airshows with the Black Diamond Jet Team.[14][19]
World record flight
In 2008, he tried to set the world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, falling just 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.[18]
In April 2009, 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.[13][15] 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.[18]
Isaacman received the call sign "Rook" during flight training.[22] He is featured on the cover of a Time magazine double issue with the rest of the crew of Inspiration4 in August 2021.[23] Inspiration4 launched on September 15, 2021 (UTC), achieved orbit and splashed down 3 days later.
During the Inspiration4 mission, Isaacman made history by making the first-known sports bet from space, placing two bets on NFL football with the BetMGM Sportsbook, while over Las Vegas.[24]
Isaacman will return to space on the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission, scheduled for launch no earlier than March 2023.[25][26]
^"Billionaire journeys from Ridge High School to space", Bernardsville News, February 10, 2021. Accessed February 23, 2021. "When Jared Isaacman dropped out of Ridge High School more than 20 years ago to pursue a successful career in business, it seemed like the sky was the limit."
