Alex Hannold is a famous American rock climber who, on Jan. 25, 2026, scaled the Taipei 101 tower in just over an hour and a half with nothing but some chalk and a lot of courage. This climb was streamed live on Netflix, while his wife and kids were nervously watching.

Hannold was born on Aug. 17, 1985. He always wanted to do something thrilling when he was a kid. He started to gain popularity in the documentary “Free Solo”, where he climbed the Half Dome rock formation in Yosemite. He currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his kids and his wife, Sani McCandless, according to Biography.

Hannold won’t reveal exactly how much money he got from the climb. According to Eonline, he received somewhere between $100,000 and $1,000,000 . He stated, “Actually, if you put it in the context in the mainstream sports, it’s an embarrassingly small amount.” 

He did this very impressive climb in only 92 minutes. The Taipei 101 is a 1,667 foottall building, or 508 meters, and Hannold was the first person ever to free solo the Taipei 101. Hannold had his eyes on Taipei 101, and after a decade, he finally got the chance to climb one of the tallest buildings in the world.

Hannold has been doing several climbs, but this one was dangerously risky, and an impressive one. He did the whole climb in barely over an hour and a half, and the Taipei 101 used to be the tallest building in the world.