Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has raised about $10 billion in its first external funding round that values the rocket company at $130 billion, people told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Mr. Bezos will invest $2 billion in the round, in addition to about $4 billion from his hedge fund Corchu Management, said the people, who requested anonymity because the details are private.
There is significant demand for the remaining $4 billion, with several large investors expected to participate.
Funding rounds heat up following Elon Musk’s blockbuster initial public offering space x last month. SpaceX raised nearly $86 billion, including underwriter options, making it the largest IPO in history and making Musk a trillionaire. The company is currently valued at approximately $2 trillion.
Bezos told CNBC in May that he was “considering” outside investment but had not yet realized it.
“It’s actually a good time to start thinking about the future and bring in other external investors,” he said.
Founder Bezos Amazon Musk will step down as CEO in 2021 to focus more on Blue Origin, the company he founded in 2000. The company competes in many of the same markets as SpaceX, including heavy-lift rockets, lunar landers and satellite internet, but Musk has a significant lead in some of those areas.
Bezos has previously funded Blue Origin solely by selling Amazon stock. Bezos said he believes Blue Origin will one day become a bigger company than Amazon, by 2024.
Blue Origin suffered a setback in late May when one of its New Glenn rockets exploded during a static high-temperature burn test at a Florida launch pad. The company is working to rebuild the damaged pad and determine the root cause of the anomaly.
Mr. Bezos and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp have set an aggressive goal of returning New Glenn to flight by the end of 2026. The rocket will be key to Blue Origin’s future missions for customers such as NASA and Amazon. AST Space Mobile.
