{"id":1628446,"date":"2026-03-19T12:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1628446"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:45:18","slug":"james-arrowood-alcors-cryonics-longevity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/03\/james-arrowood-alcors-cryonics-longevity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Executive Who Sells Cryonics to the Ultra-Wealthy Chasing Immortality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cryonics nonprofit Alcor is the \u201cOG\u201d in the longevity business, according to CEO James Arrowood. Courtesy Alcor<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Executives often entertain wealthy clients, but James Arrowood\u2019s conversations with them revolve around life, death and what comes after. As CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based nonprofit\u00a0focused on cryonics<\/span><\/a>\u2014the practice of freezing human bodies, heads and even pets in hopes that future generations might\u00a0one day revive them<\/span><\/a>\u2014he oversees a membership of about 1,600 people paying upwards of $100 a month, plus roughly $220,000 for whole-body preservation or $80,000 for neuropreservation (to freeze just the head), a group he says includes around 10 percent of the world\u2019s 50 richest people.<\/p>\n

“I’m talking to billionaires when they’re dying,” he told Observer. “None of them care about their bank balance, they don’t even know how much money they have… It’s about relationships, and it’s about their legacy.”<\/p>\n

The quest to outrun death is especially popular in Silicon Valley, where billions have been poured into anti-aging and life-extension startups. Alcor, founded in 1972 by engineer Fred Chamberlain and his wife Linda, touts itself as the “OG” of the longevity business, according to Arrowood, a former lawyer who started as outside general counsel before becoming CEO in 2022. “There’s a bunch of big money starting stealth mode companies in the cryonic space,” he said. “They’re pumping tens of millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars now\u2014and they’re all way, way behind.”<\/p>\n

Here’s how Alcor’s process works: when a member dies, the organization’s Deployment and Recovery Team (DART)\u2014which Arrowood has expanded to include retired special forces members\u2014moves quickly to transport the body to its Arizona facility. There, patients are infused with a cryoprotective solution, cooled in liquid nitrogen and stored in large Dewar vats under continuous monitoring. Alcor currently has 250 preserved patients, including founder Fred Chamberlain, who was cryopreserved in 2012.<\/p>\n

Tech founders, investors and celebrities have all bought into the idea. Peter Thiel is reportedly an Alcor member<\/a>, as are inventor Ray Kurzweil<\/a> and producer Steve Aoki<\/a>. User service fees accounted for roughly 40 percent of Alcor’s $4 million revenue in 2024, according to its most recent tax filings, with the rest coming from donations and investment income.<\/p>\n

Whether that money is well spent is a matter of fierce debate. “I can count the number of neuroscientists who think this whole concept is serious on one hand,” Michael Hendricks, an associate professor of neurobiology at McGill University, told Observer. “I think what Alcor is profiting off of is: there’s a very good market for techno-sounding magic beans that you can sell to rich people.”<\/p>\n

No human has ever been revived from cryopreservation. James Bedford, the first person to be cryonically frozen in 1967, remains in Alcor\u2019s care after being transferred there in the 1980s. Arrowood concedes that bringing people back is an aspirational goal rather than the organization\u2019s core mission. \u201cSome people hope that\u2019ll be the result, but that\u2019s the lottery ticket,\u201d he said. Instead, he emphasizes applications like keeping donated organs, such as kidneys, viable for longer. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to achieve before I die.\u201d<\/p>\n

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