The $35 eye mask the multimillionaire XPrize founder swears by for better sleep

• XPrize founder Peter Diamandis wants to live as long as possible in good health.
• In addition to dieting and exercising for longevity, he prioritizes seven to eight hours of sleep a night.
• He also likes to wear a blackout eye mask called Manta. 

Peter Diamandis isn't afraid to spend some serious cash in pursuit of his own longevity.

The XPrize founder says he's jetted down to Panama City for pricey stem cell injections in his knee and his shoulder, and he uses high-end supplements for muscle-building.

He's also the driving force behind millions of dollars of investment into moonshot-style longevity projects. In 2023, he announced a $101 million XPrize competition designed to find interventions that will help people live 10 extra healthy years. And he is a cofounder of Fountain Life, a network of longevity clinics he started alongside Tony Robbins and others, which has garnered more than $46 million in VC funding.

So it was a surprise when the multimillionaire longevity investor told Business Insider that his "favorite sleep device" is a $35 eye mask that started out as a Kickstarter in 2017.

"It basically blocks out all the light," Diamandis said of his Manta sleep mask. "I travel with it, and I love it. It's not expensive, and it's just a great asset."

Sleep masks are a booming industry

Diamandis said he has never invested in Manta; he's just a fan of the company, which has also developed something of a cult following on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Demand for sleep masks is rising fast as business travelers grow increasingly aware of the benefits of a good night's rest (and a good nap in transit). Manta was one of the first sleep masks to prioritize side sleepers and include eyecups.

Decades of research have shown that the benefits of good sleep extend beyond feeling well-rested. It helps your brain encode memories and speed up learning. It also repairs the immune system, allowing the body to release essential hormones for muscle repair and relaxation. Plus, it can help control your appetite.

Of course, being rich is a great way to get good rest, because generally the less stressed you are about keeping food on the table and a roof over your head, the easier it is to nod off.

But Diamandis thinks our cultural awareness around the importance of sleep is also shifting for the better. He remembers what it was like back in the 1980s at Harvard, when operating on very little sleep was something he'd brag about.

"When I was in medical school, it was the last thing I would think about," Diamandis said. "Now, I pride myself on getting eight hours of sleep."

That usually means he's in bed by 9:30, and asleep around 10. Sleep scientists are starting to coalesce around the importance of a consistent bedtime routine, with new findings supporting the idea that maintaining a good sleep schedule may be even more important than how many hours of shut-eye a person gets.

"Even at my events where I've got hundreds or thousands of people, it's like, 'Peter, stick around!' Nope, I'm going to sleep," he said. "I'm not sure that that's the most sociable approach to life, but it's my habit."