Billionaire buys a seat on a space flight for 60 cents and will donate it to a teacher – BollyInside

A seat in a Blue Origin New Shepard space spacecraft was auctioned off for $8 million Monday night, with Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel, winning the offer.

Griffin will gift the place to a New York City school teacher, whose selection will be coordinated by the Robin Hood Foundation, according to Christies auctioneer Lydia Fenet. Another city schoolteacher will also be on the aircraft. They are yet to be selected.

Citadel Chief Technology Officer Umesh Subramanian made the bid on behalf of Griffin, who wasnt 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 Mondays event at Manhattans Javits Center, which raised a total of $126 million for the Robin Hood Foundation, including $10 million from the Bezos Family Foundation.

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

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.

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Billionaire buys a seat on a space flight for 60 cents and will donate it to a teacher - BollyInside