Zoltan Istvan

Zoltan Istvan, an American-Hungarian, began a solo, multi-year sailing journey around the world at age 21. His main cargo was 500 handpicked books, mostly classics. He's explored over 100 countries—many as a journalist for the National Geographic Channel—writing, filming, and appearing in dozens of television stories, articles, and webcasts. His transhumanism work has been featured many times in major media. In addition to his award-winning coverage of the war in Kashmir, he gained worldwide attention for pioneering and popularizing the extreme sport of volcano boarding. Zoltan later became a director for the international conservation group WildAid, leading armed patrol units to stop the billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. Back in America, he started various successful businesses, from real estate development to filmmaking to viticulture, joining them under ZI Ventures. He is a philosophy and religious studies graduate of Columbia University and resides in San Francisco with his daughters and physician wife. Zoltan recently published "The Transhumanist Wager," an award-winning fictional thriller describing philosopher Jethro Knights and his unwavering quest for immortality via science and technology. It was a Top 5 Amazon book. In addition, Zoltan writes futurist and transhumanist-themed Op-Eds for various media, including The New York Times. Zoltan is also the founder of the Transhumanist Party and ran a successful and widely viewed 2016 US presidential campaign as the party's nominee. In 2018, he was an endorsed Libertarian candidate for California Governor. He also ran as a Republican against Donald Trump for the US Presidency in 2020, getting 6th in the GOP Primaries. Zoltan has used his political campaigns to spread transhumanism and the growing field of extreme longevity to the world. The new feature documentary, IMMORTALITY OR BUST, on his work can be viewed on Amazon Prime.