Allan John "A.J." Hackett (born May 1958, New Zealand) is the entrepreneur who turned bungy into a global commercial product. He is not the first human to jump with elastic, and land diving is older than his brand. He is the reason millions bought tickets.
Calling him "the inventor of bungee" is marketing shorthand. The accurate job title is populariser and commercial pioneer.[1][2]
Early path
Hackett left school for a carpentry apprenticeship, then speed skiing and adventure sports. In 1986 he jumped the Upper Harbour Bridge in Auckland area experiments that led toward public bungy systems. The Oxford Dangerous Sports Club had already done modern elastic bridge jumps in 1979; Hackett's contribution was productizing the risk.[2][3]
Eiffel Tower, 26 June 1987
At dawn, Hackett bungy jumped about 110 m from the Eiffel Tower after his team hid overnight. The illegal leap drew global coverage and a brief jail stay. NZ History treats it as a planned publicity stunt that worked.[1]
That is the illegal-roots chapter in one photo: freefall as media, then freefall as business. More: illegal roots.
Kawarau Bridge, 1988
With Henry van Asch and team, Hackett opened commercial bungy at Kawarau Bridge near Queenstown on 12 November 1988 - widely cited as the world's first commercial public bungy site. The product scaled: briefings, weight systems, brand, then international sites including Macau Tower.[4][5]
What his story means for jumpers now
The companies that followed his model sell process as much as thrills. Judge a site by today's checks, not by founder mythology. Hackett's ONZM-era public biography is entrepreneurship under residual risk - not a guarantee every franchise is perfect forever.
Bottom line: Hackett commercialised bungy after earlier stunt jumps and far older land diving. Eiffel 1987 and Kawarau 1988 are the dates that matter for the ticketed sport.
Sources
- NZ History: AJ Hackett bungy jumps from Eiffel Tower
- A. J. Hackett - biography overview
- Guinness: first modern bungee (1979) - prior to commercial era
- Queenstown NZ: Kawarau commercial bungy 12 Nov 1988
- Skypark Macau: AJ Hackett commercial tower bungy
Image credits
- Photo: Mat cross / Kawarau River bungy (CC BY 2.5)
- Photo: Steve & Jem Copley / Kawarau River Bridge (CC BY-SA 2.0)