Omar Samra is an entrepreneur, adventurer, speaker, and analogue astronaut. He’s a staunch advocate for climate action, equality, refugees and exploration. He’s also a passionate commentator on NFTs and the Metaverse.
As an adventurer, Omar is the first Egyptian to summit Everest, the 7 Summits and ski to both the North and South Pole. He has made three first ascents of Antarctica mountains and was lucky enough to name them. He then rowed 1000km with his teammate across the Atlantic Ocean before capsizing in a storm. This was subsequently made into a cinema-released documentary “Beyond the Raging Sea”.
Professionally, following a career in Investment Banking and Private Equity in London, Cairo, and Hong Kong, and an MBA from London Business School, Omar founded Wild Guanabana, one of the region’s leading adventure travel companies where he still serves as CEO.
When it comes to space, this has been Omar’s dream for as long as he remembers. His ultimate dream is to fly into space. He once won an international competition of 2 million applicants to fly to sub-orbital space on an XCOR Aerospace Lynx Mark III and received all the training, before the company folded in 2017. He also served as Vice-Commander of Lunares 3, a 15-day moon-analogue mission conducting research on lunar habitability. He’s currently an Astronaut Candidate with project PoSSUM, having completed its comprehensive space training, including space suit testing and zero G experience.
Omar is a Mark Maker for Montblanc, an ambassador of the Earth Shot Prize – the Duke of Cambridge’s climate action initiative -, a former Goodwill Ambassador to the UNDP, a High Profile Supporter for UNHCR, and an honorary ambassador to Nepal.
