Who is the mystery bidder who paid $28 million for a trip to space? Speculation grows after winner secures seat next to Jeff Bezos on his Blue Origin rocket 

• Wealthy winner, whose identity will be disclosed in the coming weeks, beat some 20 participants in an auction for the seat on Saturday
• The person could be one of Bezos' wealthy friends; he is known to be close to Barry Diller, Jamie Dimon and Scooter Braun
• It also seems likely the winner has a passion for space travel
• Billionaire ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt spent two years as a member of NASA's National Space Council User Advisory Group  
• Bezos, who is the world's wealthiest man, is currently locked in a race against fellow billionaires Richard Branson and Elon Musk 

Speculation is growing as to the identity of the mystery bidder who paid $28million at auction for a seat onboard the first crewed spaceflight by Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin. 

The winner's identity will be disclosed before the Blue Origin rocket - named New Shepard - blasts into space on July 20, but internet sleuths are already floating potential names.  

Given the staggering sum paid for the 11-minute flight, it seems likely the person is a billionaire and could be close friends with Bezos, who will be on board the New Shepard along with his brother, Mark. It's also likely the winner has a passion for astronomy.  

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is one billionaire with an interest in space travel. 

Schmidt, 66, has a reported fortune of $21.4 billion. He was the CEO of Google from 2001 until 2011, before serving as executive chairman of the company from 2011 until 2018. 

Interestingly, Schmidt spent two years as a member of NASA's National Space Council User Advisory Group, and is now the Chairman of the US National Security Commission for Artificial Intelligence. 

However, it's unclear whether he is friends with Bezos, and it may be more likely that the winner is close pals with the Amazon founder.  

It's not impossible that Bezos' pal, Scooter Braun, 39, bid on the coveted seat. 

The pair partied up a storm on board a boat in Italy back in the summer of 2019, and Braun - a powerhouse producer with a reported net worth of $400 million - has long gushed about Bezos. 

Back in 2017, he wrote on Twitter: 'Always has been and always will be... Jeff Bezos is such an inspiration. Never ever doubt your goals. Awesome.' 

But some of Bezos' older and wealthier pals could possibly have edged out Braun in the bidding wars. 

Barry Diller, 79, has a fortune estimated at $3.1 billion and is said to be incredibly close friends with Bezos and his partner, Lauren Sanchez. 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also has ample cash to splash on the seat given his net worth of $1.9 billion. 

However, neither Diller or Dimon have publicly professed to an interest in space travel, so it would be surprising if either of them were revealed as the winner.  

The winner beat 20 other participants in an auction launched in late May.

Bezos, the world's wealthiest man and a lifelong space enthusiast, has been racing against fellow billionaires Richard Branson and Elon Musk to be the first of the three to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere. 

The billionaire space race is fueled by optimism that space travel will become mainstream as nascent technology is proven and costs fall, fueling what UBS estimates could be a $3 billion annual tourism market by 2030. 

Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, as well as Musk's SpaceX, have also discussed using their rockets to link far-flung global cities.  

Blue Origin named the New Shepard program after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space exactly 60 years ago.

Washington state-based Blue Origin is largely self funded by Bezos, who has been selling over $1 billion worth of stock in Amazon per year to fund the company.

In sending tourists to space, Bezos has beaten Richard Branson and Elon Musk and their firms, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX to the punch.

Branson congratulated Bezos on the news, describing how their two firms are 'opening up access to space.'

He tweeted: ' Many congratulations to @jeffbezos & his brother Mark on announcing spaceflight plans. Jeff started building Blue Origin in 2000, we started building Virgin Galactic in 2004 & now both are opening up access to Space - how extraordinary! Watch this space…'

Blue Origin, founded in 2000, touts itself as means to provide cheaper access to space through the use of reusable rockets, specifically the New Shepard that has flown 15 times.

The rocket's sole mission is to take tourists to space, who would travel inside a sleek, white capsule atop the vehicle.

The capsule is designed with the iconic Blue Origin feather across the exterior and inside are six reclining seats that mirror those inside a helicopter.

Blue Origin's plans are to send tourists 62 miles above Earth's surface and spend at least 10 minutes in orbit.

The company also recently conducted its first astronaut rehearsal in preparation for sending the first manned New Shepard into space.

The mock crew traveled the designated path of future spacefaring tourists, which included traveling to the launch pad and climbing up the tower to the passenger capsule.

While celebrities and the uber-rich appear to be a core market for space tourist jaunts, at least initially, industry sources expect Blue Origin to include some philanthropic component to its ticket strategy.

The idea of sending paying customers to the edge of space was once only a plot in science fiction films, but many companies other than Blue Origin are turning the epic journey into a reality.

A college science professor and an aerospace data analyst are among a four-member crew for a launch into orbit planned later this year by Elon Musk's SpaceX, part of a charity drive billed as the first all-civilian spaceflight in history.

Virgin Galactic also aims to fly private customers in early 2022, after a first flight with Branson on board later this year.

Its zero-gravity experience is anchored by its SpaceShipTwo plane, and the company has ambitious plans to offer point-to-point travel between far-flung cities at near-space altitudes.

Virgin says it will charge more than $250,000 for new reservations but has not announced final pricing. Sales will reopen following Branson's flight.