Sold! Mystery Bidder Pays $28 Mn to Spend 11 Minutes With Bezos in Space
The money is going to charity.
Last week, we brought you the news that Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, will travel to space on July 20 on the first crewed flight of the New Shepard, the rocket ship made by his space company, Blue Origin.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos wrote in a Monday morning Instagram post. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
Now, it seems the tycoon will have even more company on his first ride into space. A seat on the mission just got auctioned off for $28 million.
To sell the seat, Blue Origin organized a live auction where 7,600 registered bidders from 159 countries competed for the elusive and exclusive spot. It was organized as a three-part bidding process including a blind auction first and then an open auction with the results posted to the company’s website.
The going rate for the seat was at just under $5 million prior to the final event that saw the rate skyrocket to $28 million. For comparison, regular seats on the space shuttle to space are said to go from $500,000 to $1 million. So why pay so much for the seat?
Well, for starters it will give the passenger the luxury of being the first in space. It will also afford him some time with Bezos. Still, it seems like a lot to pay for a quick trip to space and a speedy return back to Earth. The shuttle will only spend about 11 minutes in suborbital space before returning back down.
On the bright side, the money is going to charity. Bezos is donating it to his Club for the Future non-profit foundation, which encourages kids to pursue careers in STEM.
You can watch the live auction for the trip below:
SHOW COMMENT ()
