Martine Rothblatt

Rothblatt was born 1954 into an observant Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, to Rosa Lee and Hal Rothblatt, a dentist. She was raised in a suburb of San Diego, California.{{cite news

| author = Lisa Miller

| title = Martine Rothblatt Is the Highest-Paid Female CEO in America. She Was Also Born Male.

| quote = Martin Rothblatt was raised by observant Jewish parents in a working-class suburb of San Diego; her father was a dentist. Her mother, Rosa Lee, says she always believed her first child was destined for greatness.

| newspaper = New York Magazine

| date = September 7, 2014

| url = https://nymag.com/news/features/martine-rothblatt-transgender-ceo/index1.html

| access-date = November 22, 2014

}}{{cite news

| author = Martine Aliana Rothblatt

| title = Unzipped Genes: Taking Charge of Baby-making in the New Millennium

| quote = To my parents Hal and Rosa Lee

| date = May 1997

| pages = v

| url = http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1345_reg.html

| access-date = November 22, 2014

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161013100951/http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1345_reg.html

| archive-date = October 13, 2016

| url-status = dead

}}

Rothblatt left college after two years and traveled throughout Europe, Turkey, Iran, Kenya, and the Seychelles. It was at the NASA tracking station in the Seychelles, during the summer of 1974, that she had her epiphany to unite the world via satellite communications. She then returned to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), graduating summa cum laude in communication studies in 1977, with a thesis on international direct-broadcast satellites.

As an undergraduate, she became a convert to Gerard K. O'Neill's "High Frontier" plan for space colonization after analyzing his 1974 Physics Today cover story on the concept as a project for Professor Harland Epps' Topics in Modern Astronomy seminar. Rothblatt subsequently became an active member of the L5 Society and its Southern California affiliate, the Organization for the Advancement of Space Industrialization and Settlement (OASIS).

During her four-year J.D./M.B.A. program, also at UCLA, she published five articles on the law of satellite communications and prepared a business plan for the Hughes Space and Communications Group titled PanAmSat about how satellite spot beam technology could be used to provide communication service to multiple Latin American countries. She also became a regular contributor on legal aspects of space colonization to the OASIS newsletter.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/6/18/1307844/-Total-invalidation-of-transpeople-in-a-single-headline|title=Total invalidation of transpeople in a single headline|work=Daily Kos|access-date=2018-05-11}}

Upon graduating from UCLA in 1981 with a joint J.D./M.B.A. degree, Rothblatt was hired by the Washington, D.C., law firm of Covington & Burling to represent the television broadcasting industry before the Federal Communications Commission in the areas of direct broadcast satellites and spread spectrum communication. In 1982, she left to study astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park, but was soon retained by NASA to obtain FCC approval for the IEEE C band system on its tracking and data relay satellites and by the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Radio Frequencies to safeguard before the FCC radio astronomy quiet bands used for deep space research. Later that year she was also retained as vice president by Gerard K. O'Neill to handle business and regulatory matters for her newly invented satellite navigation technology, known as the Geostar System.{{cite news

| author = Space Studies Institute

| title = Space Studies Institute

| quote = Martin Rothblatt has been Vice President for Regulatory Affairs for Geostar...

| newspaper = THE HIGH FRONTIER® NEWSLETTER, VOLUME XI ISSUE 5

| date = September 1985

| url = http://ssi.org/reading/ssi-newsletter-archive/ssi-newsletters-1985-0910/

| access-date = October 6, 2016

| author-link = Space Studies Institute

}}

Rothblatt is a regulatory attorney.{{cite news

| author = Mark Lewyn

| title = Space Case

| quote = The Haigs were accompanied by businessman Martine Rothblatt, 41, their new partner and a successful regulatory attorney in Washington, DC, for more than a decade.

| newspaper = Wired Magazine

| date = September 1996

| url = http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/4.09/es.sky.html

| access-date = November 22, 2014

}} She also served as a member of the Space Studies Institute (SSI) board of trustees.{{cite news

| author = Space Studies Institute

| title = Space Studies Institute

| quote = Martin Rothblatt was recently named to the SSI Board of Trustees...

| newspaper = THE HIGH FRONTIER NEWSLETTER, VOLUME XI ISSUE 5

| date = September 1985

| url = http://ssi.org/reading/ssi-newsletter-archive/ssi-newsletters-1985-0910/

| access-date = October 6, 2016

| author-link = Space Studies Institute

}}

In 1984, she was retained by Rene Anselmo, founder of Spanish International Network, to implement her PanAmSat MBA thesis as a new company that would compete with the global telecommunications satellite monopoly, Intelsat. In 1986, she discontinued her astronomy studies and consulting work to become the full-time CEO of Geostar Corporation, under William E. Simon as chairman. She left Geostar in 1990 to create both WorldSpace and Sirius Satellite Radio. She left Sirius in 1992 and WorldSpace in 1997 to become the full-time chairman and CEO of American medical biotechnology company United Therapeutics.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0510/second-acts-pharmaceuticals-orphan-drugs-pah-deep-breaths.html |title=From Satellites To Pharmaceuticals |work=Forbes |date=April 22, 2010 |first=Matthew |last=Herper |access-date=September 8, 2014 }}

Rothblatt was responsible for launching several communications satellite companies, including the first private international spacecom project (PanAmSat, 1984), the first global satellite radio network (WorldSpace, 1990), and the first non-geostationary satellite-to-car broadcasting system (Sirius Satellite Radio, 1990).{{cite web|url=http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/bio/rothblatt/|title=Martine Rothblatt|access-date=October 5, 2016|archive-date=September 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912191614/http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/bio/rothblatt|url-status=dead}}

Rothblatt helped pioneer airship internet services with her Sky Station project in 1997, together with Alexander Haig.{{cite news

| author = Mark Lewyn

| title = Space Case

| newspaper = Wired

| date =September 1, 1996

| url = https://www.wired.com/1996/09/es-sky/

| access-date =November 28, 2016

}}{{cite news

| author = Nikhil Hutheesing

| title = Airship Internet

| newspaper = Forbes

| date =May 5, 1997

| url = https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1997/0505/5909170a.html

| access-date =November 28, 2016

}}

She then successfully led the effort to get the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate frequencies for airship-based internet services.{{cite news

| author = Steve G. Steinberg

| title = Updata

| quote = In May, the FCC set aside the 47-GHz band for various earth-based communications services, which marked the first step in the company's plan to float hundreds of 11-ton, 466-foot-long telecommunications platforms in the stratosphere.

| newspaper = Wired

| date =November 1, 1997

| url = https://www.wired.com/1997/11/updata-9/

| access-date =November 28, 2016

}}

As an attorney-entrepreneur, Rothblatt was also responsible for leading the efforts to obtain worldwide approval, via new international treaties, of satellite orbit/spectrum allocations for space-based navigation services (1987) and for direct-to-person satellite radio transmissions (1992). She also led the International Bar Association's biopolitical project to develop a draft Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights for the United Nations (whose final version was adopted by the UNESCO on November 11, 1997, and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998).{{cite news

| author = Andy Coghlan

| title = Gene Treaty Promises Rewards for Unique Peoples

| quote = The IBA's law and medicine subcommittee, which Rothblatt chairs, spent four years drawing up the document...

| newspaper = New Scientist Magazine, Issue 2054.

| date = 2 November 1996

| url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15220540-900-gene-treaty-promises-rewards-for-unique-peoples

| access-date =October 12, 2016

}}

Rothblatt is a well-known voice for medical and pharmaceutical innovation. In 1994, motivated by her daughter being diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary hypertension,{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/0107/138.html | title=Jeni's Oil | work=Forbes | date=1 July 2002 | access-date=19 November 2015 | author=Moukheiber, Zina}} Rothblatt created the PPH Cure Foundation and in 1996 founded United Therapeutics.{{cite news |last1=Piore |first1=Adam |title=Pharma CEO Faces Personal Fight for a New Breed of Organ Donors |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-30/pharma-ceo-rothblatt-faces-personal-fight-for-new-breed-of-organ-donors |access-date=8 August 2021 |work=Bloomberg News |date=July 30, 2021}} That same year, she says, she had sex reassignment surgery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/martine-rothblatt-she-founded-siriusxm-a-religion-and-a-biotech-for-starters/2014/12/11/5a8a4866-71ab-11e4-ad12-3734c461eab6_story.html|title=Martine Rothblatt: She founded SiriusXM, a religion and a biotech. Now she's the top-paid female executive.|first=Neely|last=Tucker|date=December 12, 2014|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} At that time she also began studying for a Ph.D. in medical ethics at the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. The degree was granted in June 2001 based upon her dissertation on the conflict between private and public interests in xenotransplantation. This thesis, defended before England's leading bioethicist John Harris, was later published by Ashgate House under the title Your Life or Mine.{{cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10378517?q&versionId=12082505|title=Your Life or Mine |access-date=October 5, 2016}}

In 2013, Rothblatt was the highest-paid female CEO in America, earning $38 million.

As of April 2018, Rothblatt earned a compensation package worth $37.1 million from United Therapeutics.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2018/04/27/united-therapeutics-martine-rothblatt-sees-a-big.html|title=United Therapeutics' Martine Rothblatt saw a big pay jump in 2017|website=www.bizjournals.com|access-date=2020-04-21}} The majority of the compensation package is for stock options.

In January 2022, Rothblatt's company Lung Biotechnology made an attempt at effectuating her Ph.D. dissertation by transplanting the first genetically-modified porcine heart in hopes that it would successfully save the life of a patient. The recipient subsequently died on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.{{cite web | url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/a-proposed-private-runway-for-beta-founder-kyle-clark-creates-turbulence-in-lincoln/Content?oid=35384594&media=AMP+HTML | title=A Proposed Private Runway for Beta Founder Kyle Clark Creates Turbulence in Lincoln }}

In June 2022, Rothblatt unveiled the world's most complex 3D printed object, a human lung scaffold, based on 44 trillion voxels of data and comprising four thousand kilometers of capillaries and 200 million alveoli.{{cite web | url= https://www.designnews.com/3d-printing-materials/worlds-most-complex-3d-printed-object | title=World's Most Complex 3D Printed Object | date=June 8, 2022 }}

File:Tier1 Engineering - Electric Helicopter.jpg Executive Vice President Paul Mahon before a flight test at Los Alamitos Army Airfield]]

Rothblatt is an airplane, seaplane{{Cite web|url=https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001488919 |title = At the age of 68, she flew the first electric helicopter| work=Globes | date=September 14, 2024 | last1=וינרב | first1=גלי }} and helicopter pilot with night-vision goggle (NVG) certification. She generally pilots a Pilatus PC-12NG, a Kodiak 100 and a Bell 429WLG. Her other achievements in aviation include providing current weather information to all XM radio-equipped North American aircraft via her SiriusXM satellite system, and pioneering Aircraft Geolocation Tracking via her Geostar Satellite System.{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/news/features/martine-rothblatt-transgender-ceo/index1.html |title=Martine Rothblatt Is the Highest-Paid Female CEO in America. She Was Also Born Male. |date=September 7, 2014 |work=New York Magazine |access-date= November 4, 2016}} In 2018, Rothblatt received the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center Annual Achievement Award for innovation in rotary-wing flight.{{Cite web|url=https://www.verticalmag.com/press-releases/electric-helicopter-creators-to-accept-ahmec-award/|title=Electric helicopter creators to accept AHMEC award|last=Release|first=AHMEC Press|website=Vertical Magazine|language=en-US|date=April 17, 2019|access-date=2020-03-03}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailylocal.com/news/local/electric-helicopter-creators-to-receive-award-in-west-chester/article_f83809d0-61df-11e9-b0da-7b53e987889c.html|title=Electric helicopter creators to receive award in West Chester|last=Group|first=MediaNews|website=Daily Local News|language=en|access-date=2020-03-03|archive-date=March 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303232705/https://www.dailylocal.com/news/local/electric-helicopter-creators-to-receive-award-in-west-chester/article_f83809d0-61df-11e9-b0da-7b53e987889c.html|url-status=dead}}

Rothblatt's company United Therapeutics formed a subsidiary, Lung Biotechnology, to preserve and restore selected donor lungs, making them viable for transplantation.{{cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/09/23/united-therapeutics-making-more-lungs-viable-for.html |title=United Therapeutics: Making more lungs viable for transplants |website=Washington Business Journal |date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=December 1, 2021}} Rothblatt began looking at electric helicopters as a way of reducing energy consumption and noise while reducing transportation time for the sensitive organs.{{cite web|last=Fehrenbacher|first=Katie|url=http://fortune.com/2016/10/31/electric-helicopter-test-flight/ |title=Watch the World's First Manned Battery-Powered Helicopter Fly |date=October 31, 2016 |work=Fortune |access-date= November 4, 2016}}

In September 2016, Rothblatt teamed with Glen Dromgoole of Tier 1 Engineering and pilot Ric Webb of OC Helicopters to conduct the world's first electric-powered full-size helicopter flight at Los Alamitos Army Airfield.{{cite web |url=https://enrg.io/rothblatt-first-full-size-electric-helicopter/ |title=Martine Rothblatt Creates First Full Size Electric Helicopter |last=Hanley |first=Steve |date=November 1, 2016 |work=enrg.ioGas2 |access-date=December 1, 2021 |archive-date=December 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202012117/https://enrg.io/rothblatt-first-full-size-electric-helicopter/ |url-status=dead }} The helicopter, a modified Robinson R44 weighed 2,500 pounds with Webb as its test pilot, flew for five minutes, attained 400 feet and exceeded 80 knots airspeed, all completely powered by rechargeable batteries.{{cite web|url=https://www.flyer.co.uk/electric-r44-helicopter-paves-way-for-organ-delivery |title=Electric R44 helicopter paves way for organ delivery |last=Calderwood |first=Dave |date=October 3, 2016 |work=FLYER |access-date= December 12, 2016}}

On February 16, 2017, Rothblatt's electric helicopter established new world records of a 30-minute duration flight and an 800-foot altitude at Los Alamitos Army Airfield.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DGg1t_1Xfg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/3DGg1t_1Xfg |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=World Record 30 minute 800 feet Electric Helicopter Flight 16 Feb 2017|date=February 26, 2017 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}} At the end of the flight, the 2,500 pound helicopter still had 8% state of charge remaining in its Brammo batteries. On March 4, 2017, Rothblatt and Ric Webb set a world speed record for electric helicopters of 100 knots at Los Alamitos Army Airfield under an FAA Experimental permit for tail number N3115T. This was also the first-ever flight of two people in a battery-powered helicopter.{{Citation|last=Martine Rothblatt|title=First ever two-person electric helicopter flight|date=2017-03-04|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2_vGou5194 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/V2_vGou5194 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|access-date=2017-03-24}}{{cbignore}} On December 7, 2018, Rothblatt earned certification in the Guinness Book of World Records for the farthest distance traveled (56.82 kilometers) by an electric helicopter.{{Cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/550266-farthest-flight-by-an-electric-helicopter-prototype|title=Farthest flight by an electric helicopter (prototype)|website=Guinness World Records|date=December 7, 2018 |language=en-GB|access-date=2019-03-18}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/commercial/2018/12/record-breaking-dream-team-proves-doubters-wrong-with-electric-helicopter-achie-552112|title=Record-breaking "dream team" proves doubters wrong with electric helicopter achievement|date=December 31, 2018|website=Guinness World Records}}

In 2019, she received the inaugural UP Leadership Award for her advances in eVTOL technology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2019/11/23/at-invitation-only-summit-in-north-texas-aviation-futurists-talk-progress-toward-flying-cars-electric-powered-aircraft/|title=What we learned about the future of flying cars, drones and more at an exclusive North Texas summit|date=2019-11-22|website=Dallas News|language=en|access-date=2020-03-03}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/story/texas-up-evtol-flying-car-conference/|title=Flying Car Leaders Talk Public Perception at a Secret Summit|magazine=Wired|access-date=2020-03-03|language=en|issn=1059-1028}}She has continued advancing electric-powered vertical technology, most recently with her proof on March 27, 2025, that hydrogen-powered proton exchange membranes (PEMs) can provide lift electrical power for helicopter rotors, via a first-in-aviation history hover flight of a hydrogen-powered Robinson R44 helicopter at the Roland-Désourdy Airport.{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblekhman/2025/05/06/hydrogen--robinson-helicopter-on-the-bleeding-edge-of-organ-delivery/ | title=Hydrogen Robinson Helicopter on the Bleeding Edge of Organ Delivery | work=Forbes | date=6 May 2025 | access-date=6 May 2025| author=David Blekhman}} Rothblatt expects to achieve FAA approval of her hydrogen-powered helicopters by 2028, and has said that she expects hydrogen-electric powerplants to extend the range of net zero [https://www.unither.aero/en/ organ delivery] helicopters and eVTOLs as compared to battery power.{{Cite web|url=https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/week-technology-april-7-11-2025) |title=Graham Warwick, Aviation Week Network, This Week in Technology, p. 1-2}}

In September 2021, Rothblatt's project to deliver transplantable organs by electric drones was successfully achieved at Toronto General Hospital (TGH), resulting in the world's first delivery of transplanted lungs by drone.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/toronto-hospitals-quebec-company-behind-world-s-first-delivery-of-lungs-by-drone-1.5619862|title = Toronto hospitals, Quebec company behind world's first delivery of lungs by drone| work=CTVNews |date = October 12, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/live/video/20211015112035-drone-delivers-lungs-to-hospital-historic-unmanned-flight-took-place-in-toronto/#x|title=CBSN|website=CBS News}}

In October 2022, Rothblatt piloted the historic first-ever electric helicopter flight between two airports, flying from Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal, California, to Palm Springs International Airport.{{Cite web|url=https://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/electrified-r44-makes-historic-intercity-flight|title = Electrified R44 Makes Historic Intercity Flight|date = October 31, 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2022-10-31/electric-r44-completes-first-airport-airport-flight|title = ELECTRIC R44 COMPLETES FIRST AIRPORT-TO-AIRPORT FLIGHT|date = October 31, 2022}}

Rothblatt's United Therapeutics has placed orders with both EHang and BETA Technologies for electric vertical take-off and landing eVTOL aircraft.{{cite news|url=https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2020-12-15/united-therapeutics-digs-deep-back-longer-range-evtol-aircraft |title=United Therapeutics Digs Deep to Back Longer-Range eVTOL Aircraft |website=Future Flight |date=December 15, 2020 |access-date=December 1, 2021}} In June 2021, she was the first flight engineer to fly BETA's ALIA eVTOL aircraft, and as of November 2021 sat on the company’s board of directors.{{cite news |url=https://evtol.com/video/martine-rothblatt-flies-beta-alia-evtol/ |title=Martine Rothblatt Flies Beta's Alia |website=eVTOL |date=June 25, 2021 |access-date=December 1, 2021 |archive-date=December 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202012117/https://evtol.com/video/martine-rothblatt-flies-beta-alia-evtol/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/video-flying-high-with-beta-technologies-kyle-clark-and-martine-rothblatt-of-united-therapeutics/Content?oid=34180712 |title=Video: Flying High With Martine Rothblatt and Kyle Clark |website=Seven Days VT |date=November 4, 2021 |access-date=December 1, 2021}}

In September 2018 Rothblatt inaugurated the world's largest net zero office building site, called the Unisphere, containing 210,000 square feet of space in Silver Spring, Maryland, powered, heated and cooled completely from on-site sustainable energy technologies.{{cite web |url=https://www.ewingcole.com/news-firmwide/|title=EwingCole's Net Zero Designed Unisphere Opens in Silver Spring|date=September 27, 2018|publisher=EwingCole|access-date=November 23, 2018 |quote=The 210,000 square-foot, elliptical shaped “Unisphere,” is the largest site Net Zero commercial building in the US and houses clinical operations for pulmonary disease, heart failure, and organ transplantation as well as In Silico molecular biology – a virtual drug development lab. Led by chairman and CEO Dr. Martine Rothblatt}}{{cite web |url=https://www.curbed.com/2018/10/9/17951726/net-zero-architecture-data-visualization|title=This enormous pulsating sculpture tells you how much energy a building uses|last=Budds |first=Diana |date=October 9, 2018 |publisher=Curbed |access-date=November 23, 2018 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90247244/this-buildings-giant-sundial-shows-how-much-energy-its-making|title=This building's giant sundial shows how much energy it's making|last=Schwab |first=Katharine |work=Fast Company |date=October 8, 2018 |access-date=November 23, 2018 }} This office building uses 1 MW of solar panels, fifty-two geothermal wells, a quarter mile long earth labyrinth and electrochromic glass to operate with a zero carbon footprint while graphically communicating its net energy status in real time to the building occupants.

In 1982, Rothblatt married Bina Aspen, a realtor from Compton, California.{{cite news

| author = Lisa Miller | title = Martine Rothblatt Is the Highest-Paid Female CEO in America. She Was Also Born Male. | quote = They were from different worlds: Martin was a white Jewish man on his way to getting a J.D.-M.B.A.; Bina, who is African-American, grew up in Compton and was working as a real-estate agent.| newspaper = New York Magazine| date = September 7, 2014| url = https://nymag.com/news/features/martine-rothblatt-transgender-ceo/index1.html| access-date = November 22, 2014}} Rothblatt and Aspen each had a child from a previous relationship and legally adopted each other's children; they went on to have two more children together.{{cite magazine

| author = Lisa Miller | title = Martine Rothblatt Is the Highest-Paid Female CEO in America. She Was Also Born Male.

| quote = But they had much in common—starting with the fact that they were both single parents. Martin had met a woman in Kenya on his way home from the Seychelles; the relationship had not worked out, but had produced a son, Eli, who was 3. Bina's daughter, Sunee, was about the same age. | magazine = New York Magazine | date = September 7, 2014 | url = https://nymag.com/news/features/martine-rothblatt-transgender-ceo/index1.html | access-date = November 22, 2014 }}{{cite news | author = Lisa Miller | title = Martine Rothblatt Is the Highest-Paid Female CEO in America. She Was Also Born Male. | quote = Soon they were living in the suburbs of Washington, in an apartment that was way too small. It was a hectic, happy time. The Rothblatts, now married, legally adopted each other's children, and would soon have two more. | newspaper = New York Magazine | date = September 7, 2014 | url = https://nymag.com/news/features/martine-rothblatt-transgender-ceo/index2.html | access-date = November 22, 2014 }}

In 1994, at age 40, she came out as a transgender woman and changed her name to Martine Aliana Rothblatt. She has since become a vocal advocate for transgender rights.{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/19/martine-rothblatt-transgender_n_5849372.html|title=Martine Rothblatt, Trans CEO, Speaks Out On Controversial New York Magazine Cover|date=September 19, 2014|work=The Huffington Post}}{{Failed verification|date=March 2024}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-after-life-trangender-ceo-martine-rothblatt-builds-robot-bina48-mind-clone/|title=Transgender CEO who overcomes obstacles takes on limits of life|website=CBS News|date=September 24, 2014}}

In 2004, Rothblatt launched the Terasem Movement, a transhumanist school of thought focused on promoting joy, diversity, and the prospect of technological immortality via mind uploading and geoethical nanotechnology. Through a charitable foundation, leaders of this school convene publicly accessible symposia, publish explanatory analyses, conduct demonstration projects, issue grants, and encourage public awareness and adherence to Terasem values and goals. The movement maintains a "Terasem Island" on the Internet-based virtual world Second Life, which is currently composed of two sims,{{cite web | title = Terasem | url = http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Terasem/128/128/2 }} which was constructed by the E-Spaces company.

Rothblatt is an advocate for LGBTQ rights and an outspoken opponent of North Carolina's controversial Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act or HB-2 law.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2016/06/22/from-siriusxm-to-pig-cloning-a-qa-with-americas-most-successful-transgender-ceo-martine-rothblatt/#d821c4b42109 |title=From SiriusXM To Pig Cloning |work=Forbes |date=June 22, 2016 |access-date=December 7, 2016}} In 2016, she gave the keynote presentation at the Moving Trans History Forward conference in Victoria, BC, Canada, entitled From Transgender to Transhuman to Virtually Human.{{Cite web |date=2016-03-17 |title=UVic transgender conference billed as largest in Canadian history |url=https://www.timescolonist.com/life/uvic-transgender-conference-billed-as-largest-in-canadian-history-4634280 |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Times Colonist |language=en}}

Through her blog Mindfiles, Mindware and Mindclones, she writes about "the coming age of our own cyberconsciousness and techno-immortality" and started a vlog together with Ulrike Reinhard on the same topic. She also created Lifenaut.com as a place where thousands of people could go to backup their minds.

Rothblatt contributed $258,000 to SpacePAC, a super PAC that supported her son, Gabriel, who was running as a Democrat in Florida's 8th congressional district{{cite news|title=The Custom-Made 'Super PAC'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/opinion/the-custom-made-super-pac-.html|access-date=August 4, 2014|work=New York Times|date=August 3, 2014}} but lost.{{cite news

| author = Ledyard King

| title = Bill Posey easily wins fourth term

| quote = Rothblatt also was helped by $258,000 spent on signs and billboards by "Space PAC," a super PAC solely funded by his parent, Martine Rothblatt, founder of Sirius Satellite Radio and CEO of the Maryland-based biotech firm, United Therapeutics.

| newspaper = Florida Today

| date = November 4, 2014

| url = http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/11/04/bill-posey-easily-wins-fourth-term/18498411/

| access-date = November 22, 2014

}} Gabriel is a pastor for the Terasem Movement.{{cite news

| author = Jessica Roy

| title = The Rapture of the Nerds

| quote = Gabriel Rothblatt, a pastor at Terasem, photographed at the Terasem ashram in Melbourne Beach, Florida April 7, 2014

| newspaper = Time Magazine

| date = April 17, 2014

| url = https://time.com/66536/terasem-trascendence-religion-technology/

}}{{cite news

| author = Jessica Roy

| title = The Rapture of the Nerds

| quote = Until 2011, Gabriel was a manager at a local pizza restaurant. Now, he spends most of his time running for Congress in a longshot campaign to get on the Democratic ballot to challenge Rep. Bill Posey this fall.

| newspaper = Time Magazine

| date = April 17, 2014

| url = https://time.com/66536/terasem-trascendence-religion-technology/

| access-date = November 22, 2014

}}{{cite news

| title = On Politics: Innocent question creates a bit of a stir

| quote = That led Posey to say that he thought he saw something in Rothblatt's candidate financial disclosure statements indicating Rothblatt was a pastor and community organizer.

| newspaper = Florida Today

| date = October 17, 2014

| url = http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/10/17/politics-innocent-question-creates-bit-stir/17456693/

| access-date = November 22, 2014

}}

In May 2024, the University of Maryland School of Medicine awarded Rothblatt the Dean's Distinguished Gold Medal in recognition of her high-impact contributions in medicine and science and in acknowledgement of her commitment to significantly improving the health and well-being of humankind.{{cite web | last = Kelvey | first = Jon | work = University of Maryland School of Medicine | title = UMSOM Bids Farewell to the Class of 2024 | date = May 24, 2024 | url = https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/news/2024/umsom-bids-farewell-to-the-class-of-2024.html | access-date = 2024-05-29}}

Lawyer and bioethicist Wesley J. Smith ridiculed the feasibility of the Terasem Movement Foundation's claims to offer a free service that can "preserve one's individual consciousness so that it remains viable for possible uploading with consciousness software into a cellular regenerated or bionanotechnological body by future medicine and technology". Smith facetiously questioned whether this offer would be followed by the sale of "longevity products".{{cite web | last = Smith | first = Wesley J. | author-link = Wesley J. Smith | title = Marketing Transhumanism | work = National Review | date = January 4, 2008 | url = http://drupal6.nationalreview.com/human-exceptionalism/327646/marketing-transhumanism/ | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130808220706/http://drupal6.nationalreview.com/human-exceptionalism/327646/marketing-transhumanism/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 8, 2013 | access-date = 2009-10-06 }}

Rhetorician and technocritic Dale Carrico harshly criticized Rothblatt's writings for promoting what he argues to be the pseudoscience of mind uploading and the techno-utopianism of the Californian Ideology.{{cite web | last = Carrico | first = Dale | author-link = Dale Carrico | title = The "Imagination" of a Robot Cultist | work = Amor Mundi | date = August 16, 2009 | url = http://amormundi.blogspot.com/2009/08/imagination-of-robot-cultist.html | access-date = 2009-10-06}} Carrico later criticized Rothblatt's claims about digital technology and "mindclones" as being nothing more than wishful thinking.{{cite web | last = Carrico | first = Dale | title = More Serious Futurology from Transhumanist Martine Rothblatt | work = Amor Mundi | date = February 28, 2010 | url = http://amormundi.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-serious-futurology-from.html | access-date = 2010-06-28}} Carrico went on to criticize Rothblatt for caring more about rights of "virtual, uploaded persons"—who he argues are neither real nor possible—more than the rights of actual human persons and some animals, such as great apes and dolphins.{{cite web | last = Carrico | first = Dale | title = Martine Rothblatt's Artificial Imbecillence | work = Amor Mundi | date = June 5, 2010 | url = http://amormundi.blogspot.com/2010/06/martine-rothblatts-artificial.html | access-date = 2010-06-06}}

Describing a conversation with BINA48, one of "humanity's first cybernetic companions," created by Rothblatt and Hanson Robotics, journalist Amy Harmon concluded it was "not that different from interviewing certain flesh and blood subjects."{{cite web | last = Harmon | first = Amy | author-link = Amy Harmon | work = The New York Times | title = Making Friends With a Robot Named Bina48 | date = July 4, 2010 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/science/05robotside.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 | access-date = 2010-07-04}}

Rothblatt has received many awards, including several honorary doctorate degrees.

In April 2008, Rothblatt was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web|date=Autumn 2008|title=NEWS from Philosophical Hall|url=https://amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/news-from-phil-hall/APS_News_Sept_08.pdf|access-date=March 24, 2017|archive-date=November 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117012900/http://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/news-from-phil-hall/APS_News_Sept_08.pdf|url-status=dead}}

On May 11, 2010, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Ben Gurion University of the Negev in recognition of her accomplishments in satellite communications and biotechnology.{{citation|title=BGU Bestows Honorary Doctoral Degree on Biotechnology CEO and Satellite Technology Pioneer Dr Martine Rothblatt|date=11 May 2010|url=https://aabgu.org/bgu-bestows-honorary-doctoral-degree-on-biotechnology-ceo-and-satellite-technology-pioneer-dr-martine-rothblatt/|work=Ben Gurion University May 2010|access-date=29 December 2016}}

In September 2017 Forbes magazine named Rothblatt one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds of the past century, with special reference to her roles as a "perpetual reinventor, founder of Sirius and United Therapeutics, and creator of PanAmSat."{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/100-greatest-business-minds|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920033435/https://www.forbes.com/100-greatest-business-minds/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 20, 2017|title=100 Greatest Living Business Minds|work=Forbes|access-date=2017-09-25|language=en}} On December 5, 2017, North Carolina State University conferred her an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree.{{Cite news|date=2017-12-05|title=NC State To Hold Fall Commencement Ceremony Dec. 15|language=en|url=https://news.ncsu.edu/2017/12/2017-fall-commencement/|access-date=2018-03-09}}

In January 2018 Rothblatt was presented the UCLA Medal, the university's highest award, in recognition of her creation of Sirius XM satellite radio, advancing organ transplant technology, and having "expanded the way we understand fundamental concepts ranging from communication to gender to the nature of consciousness and mortality."{{Cite web|url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/visionary-alumna-martine-rothblatt-honored-with-ucla-medal|title=Visionary alumna Martine Rothblatt honored with UCLA Medal|last=|first=|website=UCLA Newsroom|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}} On May 16, 2018, Rothblatt and Didi Chuxing President Jean Liu were awarded Doctors of Commercial Science degrees, honoris causa, at NYU's 186th Commencement at Yankee Stadium.{{cite press release|author=|title=Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Speak at NYU's 186th Commencement|url=https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2018/april/canadian-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-to-speak-at-nyus-186th-co.html|publisher=New York University|date=April 2, 2018|access-date=2018-09-30}}{{Third-party inline|date=August 2020}} She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Victoria{{Cite web|date=November 14, 2019|title=Martine Rothblatt receives honorary law degree from University of Victoria|url=https://www.vicnews.com/news/martine-rothblatt-receives-honorary-law-degree-from-university-of-victoria/|website=Victoria News}} after a nomination by Aaron Devor, Chair in Transgender Studies at the university.{{Cite news|last=Crescenzi|first=Nicole|date=November 2, 2019|title=University of Victoria presents honorary degree to tech, medicine and AI mastermind|work=Victoria News|url=https://www.oakbaynews.com/news/martine-rothblatt-receives-honorary-law-degree-from-university-of-victoria/|access-date=December 28, 2021}}{{Cite web |date=2019-11-02 |title=University of Victoria presents honorary degree to tech, medicine and AI mastermind |url=https://www.saanichnews.com/news/university-of-victoria-presents-honorary-degree-to-tech-medicine-and-ai-mastermind-278247 |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Saanich News |language=en}}

In 2019 Rothblatt was recognized as one of Business Insider's most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech.{{Cite web|last=Leskin|first=Paige|title=The 23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/most-powerful-lgbtq-people-in-tech-2019-2|access-date=2019-10-09|website=Business Insider}} Also in 2019, Rothblatt received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Sir Peter Jackson during the International Achievement Summit in New York City.{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}{{cite web|title=2019 Summit Highlights Photo: Awards Council member Sir Peter Jackson, the director, writer, and producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, presenting the Golden Plate Award to Dr. Martine Rothblatt, Founder and Chairman of United Therapeutics and the creator of SiriusXM Satellite Radio, at the Banquet of the Golden Plate gala ceremonies at the St. Regis Hotel.|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/summit/2019/}}

In October 2021, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) selected Dr. Rothblatt for its highest honor, the Meritorious Service to Aviation Award, for her fostering of aviation weather information on the flight deck and of advanced air mobility such as electric helicopters.{{cite news|url=https://nbaa.org/events/2021-nbaa-business-aviation-convention-exhibition-nbaa-bace/2021-nbaa-bace-newsroom/nbaa-tv-2021-nbaa-bace/martine-rothblatt-winner-nbaas-2021-meritorious-service-aviation-award/|title=Martine Rothblatt, Winner of NBAA's 2021 Meritorious Service to Aviation Award |website=NBAA |date=October 12, 2021 |access-date=December 1, 2021}}

In April 2023, Rothblatt received the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences in recognition of her many transformative, diverse, singular scientific and public service contributions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/prizes/benjamin-franklin-medal|title = American Philosophical Society Benjamin Franklin Medal}}

• Radiodetermination Satellite Services and Standards, Artech House, 1987, {{ISBN|0-89006-239-0}} (communications satellite technology)
• Apartheid of Sex: a Manifesto on the Freedom of Gender, Crown, 1995 {{ISBN|0-517-59997-X}} (transgenderism)
• Unzipped Genes, Temple University Press, 1997 {{ISBN|1-56639-522-4}} (bioethics and biopolitics)
• Your Life or Mine, Ashgate, 2003 {{ISBN|0-7546-2391-2}} (xenotransplantation)
• Two Stars for Peace, iUniverse, 2003 {{ISBN|0-595-65982-9}} (Middle East peace process)
• From Transgender to Transhuman: a Manifesto on the Freedom of Form, Martine Rothblatt, 2011, {{ISBN|0615489427}}
• Virtually Human, St. Martin's Press, 2014 {{ISBN|1-250-04663-7}} (artificial intelligence)

Rothblatt is the executive producer of the following films:

• 2B, Transformer Films, 2009. The film is a techno-thriller set in the near-future that deals with the moral questions confronting society following the creation of the world's first posthuman.
• The Singularity Is Near, Exponential Films, 2010. The documentary, based upon Ray Kurzweil's book The Singularity Is Near, is directed by Anthony Waller and stars Pauley Perrette.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1=Tyrkus|first1=Michael|title=Contemporary Authors. Volume 347: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television and Other Fields|date=2016|publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning|location=Farmington Hills, Mich.|isbn=9781410311450}}
• {{cite book|last1=Avery|first1=Laura|title=Newsmakers. 2016 Cumulation: the People Behind Today's Headlines|date=2016|publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning|location=Farmington Hills, Mich|isbn=978-1-57302-450-1}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://lifeboat.com/ex/bios.martine.rothblatt Lifeboat Foundation Bios: Martine Rothblatt]
• [http://www.unither.com/ United Therapeutics]
• {{TED speaker}}
• [http://www.ted.com/talks/martine_rothblatt_my_daughter_my_wife_our_robot_and_the_quest_for_immortality "My daughter, my wife, our robot, and the quest for immortality" (TED2015)]

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothblatt, Martine}}

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