Portrait of Kamal Ghaffarian

Rank #812

Kamal Ghaffarian

Net worth $5.2B

Space, energy · United States

Born
Apr 28, 1958
Age
68
Source
Space, energy
Residence
Naples, Florida
Citizenship
United States
Marital status
Engaged
Children
0
Education
Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Catholic University of America; Master, George Washington University

Net worth over time

Biography

  • Kamal "Kam" Ghaffarian is a serial entrepreneur who has started companies in nuclear energy, lunar landers and space stations.
  • He founded small modular nuclear reactor manufacturer X-Energy in 2009; the firm is developing a reactor for a Dow chemicals plant in Texas.
  • In 2015, he cofounded Intuitive Machines, which makes moon landers. The company listed on the Nasdaq through a blank check company in February 2023.
  • Axiom Space, which he cofounded in 2016, is developing the world's first commercial space station, with a planned launch date of 2031.
  • He sold his first company SGT--which he cofounded in 1994 and became NASA's second-largest engineering services provider--to KBR for $355 million in 2018.
  • In February 2024, Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lunar lander completed the first American mission to the moon since 1972.
  • Ghaffarian was born in Iran and moved to the U.S. at 18 for his college studies.
  • In 2021 he cofounded Quantum Space, which builds satellites that provide communications, navigation and space domain awareness between the Earth and the moon.
  • Besides two bachelor's degrees and a master's, Ghaffarian holds Ph.D.s in management information systems and philosophy of technology.

Financial assets

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