To combat fears of losing their jobs, men in tech are being forced to undergo face, neck and eyelid lifts, plastic surgeons say.
In a 2024 speech, Keith Rabois shared advice that fellow investor Peter Thiel gave him: “You can’t hire anyone over 30.” So it's no surprise that men in tech are frequently spending huge amounts of money on face, neck and eyelid lifts to combat the signs of aging, according to plastic surgeons. The latest addition to the techie image is a completely new face.
“In our society, it is traditional to believe that a woman should look young, but now everyone feels this way, especially in Silicon Valley. Now, if you look old, you're considered 'irrelevant,'" said Dr. Timothy Marten, a plastic surgeon in San Francisco.
Dr. Ben Talei, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who charges $125,000 to $150,000 for his complex face and neck lifts, has seen demand from tech professionals rise fivefold over the past five years.
San Francisco plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Barnett notes that requests for facelifts from men in tech are up about 25% from pre-Covid levels, and requests for eyelid surgery are up 50%. The most noticeable increase is among men working in venture capital and private equity, he said. Barnett added that access to financing helps tech professionals whose facelifts cost between $40,000 and $65,000.
Experts note that men in technology express strong concerns about their aging. Some of them turned to cosmetic procedures. The trend began with Botox and similar non-surgical treatments, but as men age 40, they begin to turn to more surgical procedures, including "mini facelifts." Facelifts with fewer incisions and a short recovery period are especially in demand. The procedure typically focuses on the lower part of the face.
Another popular procedure, eyelid lift (blepharoplasty), eliminates puffy bags under the eyes and sagging skin of the upper eyelid. The cost of the operation is about 8,000–10,000 dollars. Thanks to this short procedure, men can look up to 10 years younger. New drugs significantly reduce bruising and swelling, and therefore recovery time, doctors comment. Some facelift patients even have their salivary glands reduced in size, which helps create a defined jawline.
Victoria Hitchcock, a Bay Area style consultant who works with many tech clients, said men often see their wives getting surgery and then realize they need it too. That's exactly what the 55-year-old man, a sales manager for a flooring company that supplies Silicon Valley tech companies, did. Last November, Dr. Dino Eliassnia performed a neck lift on him to correct what the man called his “frog-shaped double chin.” His wife had undergone the procedure before, and “I don’t want to look like a troll around her,” said the patient, who declined to give his name.
The operation, under general anesthesia, involved what he called the “removal” of the salivary glands, leading to a longer and more difficult recovery. He found some aspects "disturbing": drains placed in the neck for several days and difficulty swallowing, which caused some "panic". It took about four to six months to restore normal sensation in the lower lip. However, he said he would “do it again without any doubt.
Over three decades of practice, doctors have seen the situation change. “Historically, if a man was successful, he was respected regardless of his appearance, while a woman, regardless of her achievements, had to look good to be admired,” he said. Men now feel that “their achievements are not enough. They should also look the part.”
How are things going in Cyprus?
We contacted doctors from several plastic clinics in Limassol, who preferred to remain anonymous. They confirmed: the American trend for anti-aging procedures has already reached the island.
“The queue for a facelift, neck and eyelid lift is scheduled almost a year in advance. Most of the patients are men. And this is not surprising: many IT specialists who came to Cyprus 10–20 years ago are now entering adulthood. In IT companies, the cult of “eternal youth” is traditionally cultivated, and many men over 40 are simply ashamed to look older than their colleagues,” says Kyriakos Manti (name changed).
Another interlocutor adds:
“Yes, I read the article in The Washington Post. It’s strange that they didn’t mention the hair transplant trend - this is also a very popular procedure. Even patients over 25 years old come to us. We do not do facelifts, but we specialize in Botox and blepharoplasty. This, in my opinion, is a purely Cypriot specificity - men often go to parties and get-togethers, and this leads to puffiness, sagging and bags under the eyes,” says Andreas Adamides (not his real name).
Source: wsj.com
