Yuri Milner is a billionaire and one of the most prominent investors in technology. He has helped create successful companies like Facebook, Spotify, and Twitter. Milner has a reputation for doing big things; he co-founded Breakthrough Initiatives, which funds innovative ideas in science and technology.

When they first met at Facebook headquarters, Milner was asked to write his own Eureka Manifesto by Mark Zuckerberg. The result? Yuri Milner’s “Eureka!” manifesto is a very short (1/3rd of a page) but powerful document that identifies what needs to happen for humanity to progress significantly over the next few decades.

 

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Milner’s Manifesto is articulated around the idea that it’s time for humanity to go “exploring” — after all, that’s what we were put on this planet to do.

Milner says he wrote “Eureka!” in a very short period, and he wrote it because he didn’t think anybody was saying anything important enough. He wanted to address big issues and questions in science that could make a difference in people’s lives: War on Cancer and Self-Driving Cars. Milner realized there was an opportunity to help solve some of our world’s biggest problems. Now, his Manifesto has been shared thousands of times on Facebook alone.

Milner’s activities are about more than just making money for a great return on investment. He is passionate about real science and the people who do it. With his most recent venture — Breakthrough Starshot — Milner has set his sights on tremendous things: the detection of extraterrestrial life and interstellar travel. The project aims to create an ultra-lightweight nano craft that can be sent to Alpha Centauri within 20 years. Think Star Trek without the warp drive but with a lot of money!

During Yuri Milner’s visit to Berkeley, he had a fireside chat with famous physicist and cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking.