"Tech billionaires determined to buy their way out of death"--UPDATE
Seems another instance of fact following (my) techno-fiction. My science techo-thriller, A REMEDY FOR DEATH, centers around a conspiracy of the elite, a secretive cabal of the rich, powerful and politically-connected, that is funding an analogue to Michael Crichton's JURASSIC PARK . . . to recreate themselves, and hence gain the chance to go around again in life, as one of them put it, in "healthy, horny 21-year old bodies complete with all our accumulated savvy from this lifetime."
But that's no longer just some wacko author's fantasy: Check out the Business Insider article, "These Tech Billionaires Are Determined to Buy Their Way Out of Death"
And see my previous post "New Google division, along with TIME Magazine, follow trail blazed by technothriller A REMEDY FOR DEATH!" That will link you to the TIME cover story on Calico, a new division or subsidiary, of Google. Calico is exploring much the same issues as in my technothriller, A REMEDY FOR DEATH. (But, hey, let's face it: they've got a bigger budget!)
Seems the same mindset as in my book. Want more proof? Check out Adam Gollner's article in the Daily Bookbeast, "The Immortality Financiers: The Billionaires Who Want to Live Forever"
Incidentally, that article quotes Global Industry Analysts, which suggests that "the anti-aging industry generates more than $80 billion per year." I expect that includes aging lotions and potions, and not just regenerative medicine. TIME estimates the regenerative medicine industry is now about $1.5 billion annually. likely to grow to $20 billion by 2025.
Implication: if these billionaires' investment pays off as they hope, then they get to live again and again. Or, worst case, it doesn't work for them, but odds are it will be a profitable niche with good payback for their investment. But they can't take it with them.
Or can they? In my A REMEDY FOR DEATH, the crusty old media billionaire, at a drunken dinner, shouts out "If I can't take it with me, then hell no, I won't go!" (Not to spoil the plot, but at about the point he says "hell no" all hell does break out there.)
BTW, Adam Gollner has recently published THE BOOK OF IMMORTALITY. i'll look for a copy and report back here. It's straight reporting, not a techn-thriller.