Record-Setting Aviator, Astronaut, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist Receives 2022 UP.Summit Inspiration Award

Jared Isaacman recognized for his collective work in helping humanity go UP

BENTONVILLE, Ark. , June 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UP.Partners is proud to announce Jared Isaacman as the recipient of the 2022 UP.Summit Inspiration Award. The award is presented by UP.Partners to an individual who has inspired others to think bigger and has created a positive impact on mankind.

Isaacman founded Shift4 Payments in 1999 at the age of 16 in his parents' basement. Shift4 now handles more than $200 billion in annual payments for a third of the restaurants, hotels, and casinos in the United States. The company has more than a dozen offices all over the country and provides technology solutions for more than 200,000 businesses.

Isaacman, an accomplished aviator rated to fly commercial and military aircraft, also founded Draken International, in 2012. Draken provides tactical aviation services for all branches of the United States Military, the U.S. Department of Defense, and global allied militaries. The company is the world's largest private operator of military jets. Isaacman sold the company in 2019 to The Blackstone Group, and remained its chief executive officer until 2020.

Isaacman's business and aviation successes have paralleled his philanthropic dedication.

In 2009, Isaacman set the round-the-world speed record in a light jet. In the process, more than $100,000 was raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which works to grant life-changing wishes for children who suffer from serious illnesses.  

In 2021, he commanded Inspiration4, a four-person mission that was the first all-civilian mission to orbit. The primary objective of the mission was to inspire support for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which offers life-saving care to children regardless of their family's ability to pay. The mission lasted three days, reached an orbital altitude of approximately 585 kilometers – the highest of any crewed flight in 20 years, and helped to raise more than $240 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  

In February of 2022, Isaacman announced he would also serve as commander of the Polaris Program, an additional three missions in partnership with SpaceX. He and his crews are scheduled to launch no earlier than November 2022, and they will continue raising funds and awareness for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

"Jared continuously pushes the limits of what's possible - be it in aviation, business, or philanthropy. We're thrilled to celebrate his accomplishments thus far, but even more excited to see what is to come in his future endeavors in helping humanity go UP," said Cyrus Sigari, co-founder of UP.Partners and Arkansas Future Mobility Council Chairman.

The 2022 UP.Summit Inspiration Award was presented to Isaacman at a ceremony on June 7 during the multi-day summit in Bentonville. The previous recipient of the award was Martine Rothblatt, the chief executive officer of the United Therapeutics Corporation. 

The 2022 UP.Summit has brought together more than 250 of the world's leading innovators, entrepreneurs and technologists, and showcased concepts and products that represent the future of technology and mobility. Now in its fifth year, the UP.Summit is an invitation-only event that attracts CEOs of some of the world's biggest companies, founders of the most inspiring start-ups, and capital allocators representing more than $1 trillion of assets under management. Their shared objective is this year's UP.Summit theme – "Transforming the Moving World." The UP.Summit was founded in 2017 and is jointly hosted by investment firm UP.Partners, Tom and Steuart Walton, and Ross Perot Jr, rotating between Bentonville and the Dallas/Ft. Worth area annually.

UP.Summit is an annual, invitation-only gathering of the world's most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation. Leaders of the most impactful companies moving people and goods gather at the summit each year with the goal of moving people and goods cleaner, faster, safer, and at lower-cost - on the ground, in the air, on the sea, and in space. UP.Summit was founded in 2017 and is jointly organized by UP.Partners, Tom and Steuart Walton, and Ross Perot Jr. 

Transportation is the underlying fabric of society. UP.Partners invests in the pioneering entrepreneurs who are creating the key enabling technologies that help move people and goods moving people and goods cleaner, faster, safer, and at lower-cost - on the ground, in the air, on the sea, and in space. UP.Partners with some of the world's most innovative investors and companies including Alaska Airlines, ARK Invest, and Woven Capital, the investment arm of Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet Group. UP.Summit convenes the mobility community's brightest minds each year to help humanity go UP. Together, the UP community is transforming the moving world. For more information, visit UP.Partners or follow on Twitter @UpPartnersVC or LinkedIn.

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