Tim Ferriss
Born 1977 · Age 48
American entrepreneur, author, podcaster, angel investor and lifestyle author known for the '4-Hour' book series, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, early-stage tech investing, and philanthropic support for psychedelic research.
Compare Your Trajectory
See how your career milestones stack up against Tim Ferriss and other industry leaders.
Life & Career Timeline
Spent a year in Japan as an exchange student
At age 15 Ferriss spent a year in Japan as an exchange student; an experience he cites as formative.
Graduated St. Paul's School
Completed secondary education at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire; wrestled in high school.
National Chinese Kickboxing Championship (reported)
Ferriss reportedly won a National Chinese kickboxing championship by technical knockout (date in sources not explicit).
Graduated Princeton University (B.A.)
Received a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies from Princeton University; studied language acquisition and worked with notable faculty.
First post-college job — sales at a data-storage firm
Worked in sales (cold-calling/cold-emailing) for a data-storage company after graduation; this period influenced later experiments.
Founded BrainQUICKEN (nutritional supplements ecommerce)
Started BrainQUICKEN, an Internet-based nutritional supplements business (later renamed BodyQUICK/BodyQuick).
Began guest lecturing at Princeton University
Started serving as a guest lecturer at Princeton (High-Tech Entrepreneurship and related topics); continued through 2013.
Speaker of multiple languages and early extracurricular achievements
Developed language skills (including Japanese) and exotic interests (e.g., horseback archerry in Japan) reported across profiles; used language skills in career/life design.
Political asylum researcher (reported among early activities)
Listed among a wide variety of experiences (1999–2009) including political asylum research; dates and scope vary by source.
Guinness World Record for tango spins (first American)
Reportedly became the first American to hold a Guinness World Record for tango spins (sources list but exact date not explicit).
Published The 4-Hour Workweek
Released The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, a breakthrough bestseller that launched his public career.
Named a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute
Selected as a 2009 Henry Crown Fellow (Aspen Institute program for leadership).
Expanded/Updated edition of The 4-Hour Workweek
Published an expanded and updated edition of The 4-Hour Workweek.
Helped Shopify launch 'Build a Business' competition
Advised/assisted Shopify on a Build-A-Business competition that included a $100,000 prize to foster web-store startups.
Published The 4-Hour Body
Released The 4-Hour Body, a #1 New York Times bestseller focused on fitness and self-experimentation.
Early advisor / pre-seed role for Uber (reported)
Served as a pre-seed money advisor to Uber in its early days (sources describe him as an early supporter/advisor; exact terms not public).
Sold BrainQUICKEN/BodyQUICK to London-based private equity firm
Ferriss sold his supplements company (then known as BodyQUICK) to a London private equity firm; sale used to support other projects and informed The 4-Hour Workweek.
Published The 4-Hour Chef
Published The 4-Hour Chef (a book about cooking and accelerated learning); it became a NYT and WSJ bestseller and reportedly won a Gourmand award (sources vary on year).
Gourmand Award (reported) for The 4-Hour Chef
Sources indicate The 4-Hour Chef won a Gourmand 'Best in the World' award at the Paris Cookbook Awards (source listing on bio pages); date varies in reporting.
Syndicate investing and early use of general solicitation
Among early adopters of AngelList syndicates and general solicitation for angel investments (publicized Shyp syndicate in 2013).
Invested/advised in many startups (ongoing builds)
Acted as an angel investor/advisor to a long list of startups including Reputation.com, Trippy, TaskRabbit, Digg, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Posterous, SimpleGeo, DailyBurn, Evernote and others (dates vary per company).
Helped arrange crowdfunded angel investments via new methods (AngelList/general solicitation)
Among the first to use AngelList syndicates and general solicitation methods for angel investing; formed a public syndicate for Shyp.
Shyp total funding announced ($2.1M)
Shyp's announced total funding round reached $2.1M (context: Ferriss organized a syndicate that contributed seed capital).
Formed AngelList syndicate and raised funds for Shyp (initial)
Formed a syndicate on AngelList to invest in Shyp; Ferriss personally raised $250,000 to invest and through his backers raised >$500,000; Shyp overall raised $2.1M.
Launched Tim Ferriss Publishing (audiobook venture)
Started an audiobook publishing venture (Tim Ferriss Publishing); first audiobook published was Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.
The Tim Ferriss Experiment TV show debuted on HLN
Debut of The Tim Ferriss Experiment (HLN); 13 episodes produced though only some aired; focused on life-hacking and speed-learning.
Reached major podcast milestone (first business/interview podcast to exceed 100M downloads — reported)
Reported as the first business/interview podcast to surpass 100 million downloads (source-level claim; exact date of crossing the threshold not always specified).
Launched The Tim Ferriss Show (podcast)
Launched a long-form interview podcast focusing on deconstructing world-class performers; it became one of the most-downloaded business podcasts.
Ranked #6 in Top 20 Angel Investor rankings (2014)
Listed among top angel investors (#6) for 2014 based on deals and influence.
Acquired rights to The Tim Ferriss Experiment episodes and distributed them
Ferriss acquired all episodes of his HLN series and distributed them digitally (iTunes), where they charted highly in downloads.
Declared a long vacation from new investing
Announced a pause/long vacation from making new angel investments, citing stress and a desire to focus on writing and media.
Publicly reevaluated lifestyle-design approach (later reversal, 2020–)
Over time Ferriss publicly reconsidered aspects of his early '4-Hour' lifestyle optimization thesis; by 2020 he stated not everything meaningful can be measured.
Public speaker and invited keynote engagements (ongoing)
Has been invited to speak/keynote at TED, SXSW, LeWeb, EG, Web 2.0 Expo and organizations including Google, MIT, Harvard Business School, Nike, Facebook, CIA, Microsoft, Palantir.
Began increased public advocacy and funding for psychedelic research
Following personal experiences and meeting key researchers, Ferriss began a sustained period of funding and advocacy for clinical psychedelic research starting around 2015.
Met Roland Griffiths and organized crowdfunding for psychedelic depression research
Met Johns Hopkins researcher Roland Griffiths and organized crowdfunding to support Griffiths' research into depression and psychedelics.
Announced 'vacation' from certain activities (e.g., investing, email)
Instituted periods of selective unavailability (email vacations, blurb vacations, and a long vacation from new angel investing).
Distributed The Tim Ferriss Experiment episodes on iTunes (charting)
After acquiring rights to his TV series, Ferriss distributed episodes on iTunes where they charted highly in the most-downloaded lists.
Listed in Fortune's 40 Under 40
Named to Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40 list.
Published Tools of Titans
Published Tools of Titans, compiling tactics and routines of high performers from his podcast interviews; it was a #1 NYT bestseller.
Served on DonorsChoose.org National Advisory Council and QuestBridge advisory board (reported as of 2016)
Active in nonprofit advisory roles including DonorsChoose.org and QuestBridge (donor and advisory board member by 2016).
Podcast recognized as 'Best of Apple Podcasts' multiple years
The Tim Ferriss Show was selected for 'Best of Apple Podcasts' three years in a row (dates span multiple years after podcast launch).
Funded 145 DonorsChoose projects on Long Island (#BestSchoolDay)
As part of a #BestSchoolDay campaign, funded all 145 classroom projects on Long Island and additional projects in New Hampshire and Sacramento via DonorsChoose.org.
Published Tribe of Mentors
Released Tribe of Mentors, another compilation drawing on interviews from his network; a NYT bestseller.
Hosted TV series 'Fear{Less} with Tim Ferriss'
Hosted a 2017 TV show interviewing innovators and leaders across industries about success and innovation.
Announced effective retirement from active angel investing
Stated that he had effectively retired from angel investing (~two years prior), and moved away from Silicon Valley for lifestyle reasons.
TED Talk: 'Why you should define your fears instead of your goals'
Delivered a TED talk on the value of fear-setting, an idea he popularized.
Shyp shut down
Shyp, the startup for which Ferriss organized early angel funding via a syndicate, shut down and laid off employees in 2018.
Founded the Saisei Foundation
Founded Saisei Foundation to support early-stage science in mental health, psychedelics, and life-extension research.
Major donations to Johns Hopkins psychedelic research
Contributed more than $2M to Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research and organized an additional ~$8M in commitments to the center and related initiatives.
Organized additional philanthropic commitments (~$8M) for Johns Hopkins research
Beyond his own $2M+ donation, Ferriss organized approximately $8M more in commitments to support Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research.
Supported Imperial College and other global psychedelic research centers
Contributed to and supported psychedelic research efforts internationally (Johns Hopkins, Imperial College London, UCSF and others).
Continued media and publishing influence (book club, audiobook publishing)
Curated a Tim Ferriss Book Club and used his platform to buy and market audiobook rights (examples: Vagabonding, Ego Is the Enemy, The Obstacle Is the Way).
Collaborated on COYOTE card game with Exploding Kittens (commercial distribution)
Collaborated with Exploding Kittens to create the COYOTE card game sold online and in 8,000+ retail locations; viral videos of COYOTE amassed 300M+ social views (dates reported on his site; specific year of collaboration not explicit).
Contributed to Imperial College London's Center for Psychedelic Research
Support reported for Imperial College London's Center for Psychedelic Research (contribution/commitment reported in news coverage).
Reportedly invested in Duolingo and Shopify (among others)
Reported investor/advisor roles include Duolingo and Shopify; exact dates of investments/advisory roles vary but involvement is publicly noted.
Public advocacy for psychedelics and mental-health research (major philanthropic pivot)
Shifted significant philanthropic energy toward psychedelic treatment research, motivated by personal and family experience with psychiatric disorders and overdose death of a friend.
Donated $1M to MAPS and issued $10M challenge grant
Donated $1,000,000 to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) for MDMA/PTSD research; issued a $10M challenge grant and helped publicize and raise a total of $30M for the program.
Saisei Foundation committed $800,000 to UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship
Saisei Foundation committed $800,000 to UC Berkeley's Center for the Science of Psychedelics to create the Ferriss–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship (10 grants of $10,000 annually included in the program design).
Co-funded POPLAR project (Harvard) and related Saisei collaborations
Saisei Foundation collaborated with Harvard Law School's Petrie-Flom Center and co-funded POPLAR (Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation).
Podcast milestone: exceeded one billion downloads (cumulative)
The Tim Ferriss Show surpassed one billion total downloads (the podcast previously achieved an earlier milestone as the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads).
Donated/support to UCSF Neuroscape Psychedelics Division
Provided philanthropic support to UCSF Neuroscape Psychedelics Division (specific amounts not publicly detailed in source excerpt).
Estimated net worth reported circa 2025
Multiple sources and profiles estimate Tim Ferriss' net worth in the ballpark of approximately $100 million as of 2025.
Key Achievement Ages
Explore what Tim Ferriss and others achieved at these notable ages:
Similar Trajectories
Veronica Belmont
Born 1982 · Age 43
American online media personality, podcaster and product manager known for Tekzilla, Buzz Out Loud, Mahalo Daily, Qore, Sword & Laser and Mozilla's IRL; later a product leader at Adobe, Unity and Electronic Arts.
Clara Shih
Born 1982 · Age 43
American technology entrepreneur and executive; co-founder and former CEO of Hearsay Social; board member of Starbucks; executive roles at Salesforce; in Nov 2024 appointed to lead Business AI at Meta Platforms. Author of two books on social business.
Aparna Nancherla
Born 1982 · Age 43
American stand-up comedian, writer, actress and voice actor known for stand-up, writing for late-night TV, recurring TV roles (BoJack Horseman, Corporate) and for her memoir and comedy album.
Ruchi Sanghvi
Born 1982 · Age 43
Indian computer engineer and businesswoman; first female engineer hired by Facebook; co‑founder of Cove (acquired by Dropbox); former VP of Operations at Dropbox; founder of South Park Commons.
Katrina Lake
Born 1982 · Age 43
American entrepreneur, founder and chairperson of Stitch Fix, a data-driven personal styling and fashion subscription service; led Stitch Fix from founding (2011) to IPO (2017) and served as CEO until 2021.
Michael Seibel
Born 1982 · Age 43
Entrepreneur, co-founder of Justin.tv/Twitch and Socialcam; longtime Y Combinator partner and former CEO of the YC Startup Accelerator; investor and board member (Reddit, Dropbox).