Billionaire Close to Musk Was Chosen to Lead NASA

US President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has chosen billionaire Jared Isaacman to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, where he describes Isaacman as "a successful business leader, philanthropist, pilot and astronaut."

"Jared will lead NASA's mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in science, technology and space exploration. Over the past 25 years, as founder and CEO of Shift4, Jared has demonstrated exceptional leadership, building a pioneering global financial technology company," he wrote.

"He also co-founded and served as CEO of Draken International, a defense aerospace company, for over a decade supporting the U.S. Department of Defense and our allies. Jared's passion for space, his experience as an astronaut, and his dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new space economy make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new era," he added.

It is worth noting that the billionaire is close to Elon Musk. Isaacman, 41, is the founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments and has partnered with Elon Musk and his company SpaceX to test the company's new spacesuits.

The billionaire made history last September when he completed the first private spacewalk with space scientist Sarah Gillis on the Polaris Dawn mission. The mission also marked the milestone of surpassing 1,400 kilometers from Earth, the furthest manned journey since the Apollo missions more than 50 years ago.

With the appointment of Isaacman - who will have to be confirmed by the US Senate - the president-elect will place a portfolio close to Musk, who, together with millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, will be responsible for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

NASA has an annual budget of 25 billion dollars (around 22 billion euros) and has set the goal of returning to the moon as part of its Artemis program, with the support of SpaceX.

Since his election, Trump has made a series of appointments to his administration, surrounding himself with loyal but also controversial names.

The new Trump administration takes office on January 20.