Billionaire Spends $8 mmn on Jeff Bezos Space Flight and Will Donate It to a Teacher

A seat in a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule going to space was auctioned for $8 million Monday night, with the winning bid coming from Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel. 

Griffin will donate the spot to a New York City school teacher, whose selection will be organized by poverty-fighting philanthropy the Robin Hood Foundation, auctioneer Lydia Fenet of Christie’s said. Another school teacher from the city will also be on the flight. They have yet to be chosen.

Citadel Chief Technology Officer Umesh Subramanian made the bid on behalf of Griffin, who wasn’t at the auction, the proceeds of which went to the Robin Hood Foundation. The flight is likely to be in the first half of next year. 

Blue Origin and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos was at Monday’s event at Manhattan’s Javits Center, which raised a total of $126 million for the Robin Hood Foundation, including $10 million from the Bezos Family Foundation. 

For the first Blue Origin flight in July 2021, a seat to join Bezos, Mark Bezos and Wally Funk was auctioned for $28 million. The proceeds went to Club for the Future. The bidder then decided to fly on a later trip due to a scheduling conflict and the seat went to the 18-year-old son of a Dutch financier.

Comedian John Mulaney performed at Monday’s event, joking about space travel ahead of the auction. “Did you know you can go to outer space? That’s the new having a boat, is going to space. Boats used to be a big deal.”