By Doug Cameron
A ticket to go into space next month with Jeff Bezos went for almost $30 million, including the commission, in a charity auction Saturday, said Blue Origin LLC, the space company founded by the billionaire.
The winner of the live phone auction wasn't revealed Saturday -- Blue Origin said it had to complete final paperwork -- but is expected to be named in two weeks.
The successful bidder will be among the passengers on the New Shepard vehicle's first crewed launch planned for July 20 and spend a few minutes in space with Mr. Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos and an unnamed fourth would-be astronaut.
Bidding opened Saturday at $4.9 million and rose quickly to $10 million before four participants competed to ultimately raise the price to $28 million. A 6% buyers' commission is added to the winning bid, taking the final cost to $29.7 million. Blue Origin said 7,600 bidders from 159 countries registered for the event.
Proceeds go to the Blue Origin Club for the Future charity, which focuses on encouraging young people to take an interest in space, math and science.
Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
This article was corrected June 13, 2021 to reflect that the first name of Jeff Bezos's brother is Mark. The original version incorrectly said the name was Matt.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-12-21 1405ET
