Martine Rothblatt

Martine Aliana Rothblatt | CEO of a biotech company, Philosopher
* 10 October 1954 in Chicago, Illionis as Martin Rothblatt

Martine Rothblatt is both a philosopher and entrepreneur as well as being the highest paid and most intriguing CEO in the USA. She has four university degrees, from BAs to PhDs, created the world’s first GPS system and the Sirius satellite radio. In the 1990s, she founded an extremely successful biotech company to develop more effective medication for her daughter who was seriously ill.                                                   

Martine is passionate about her work, focussing in particular on science and progress. She doesn’t believe in of any kind limitations from a biological perspective. She earned her first billion as a man.

Martine lived as Martin for 40 years. She says she always felt like a woman but was afraid to show her feminine side which she suppressed for decades. With phenomenal courage and strength, Martine accepted that she identified as female and decided to have gender reassignment surgery. Her family were especially supportive. She’s been married to her wife Bina for over 30 years, and Bina along with their four children have given Martine their full support. As Bina told Martine, “I love your soul, regardless of whether your body is male or female.” And her daughter made this particularly enlightened and touching comment: „I love my dad, and she loves me.“

Martine has been campaigning for the transgender community ever since. In her book, „The Apartheid of Sex“ she rails against the world being divided into male and female. „The borders need to be much more fluid. After all, there are as many sexual identities in the world as there are people.“ 

Gender barriers are not the only thing Martine considers outdated. She’s also a figurehead for Transhumanism, a philosophical movement that believes technology can help us overcome our biological limitations. And Martine has a further hope for the future – that young people will be inspired by her far-reaching career. „In general, men are encouraged much more to succeed in business and technology,“ she says, „I feel blessed that I can now be an example to young people that any body can take you anywhere. My mantra is: Mind is deeper than matter“.