Former Ad Exec to Join Billionaire Brother in Space

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will step down from his role on July 5, and the world’s second-richest man has big plans to kick off his next chapter. On June 7, Bezos announced on Instagram that he and his younger brother, Mark Bezos, will be on board when Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket system makes its first human flight on July 20. Blue Origin, of course, is the aerospace company the elder Bezos founded in 2000. Top line The Bezos brothers will join the winner of an auction for a seat, which a statement noted has so far solicited nearly 6,000 bidders from 143 countries. As of June 7, the high bid is $2.8 million. The auction will end June 12. According to Blue Origin, New Shepard can accommodate six astronauts in a “spacious and pressurized crew capsule [that] is environmentally controlled for comfort.” Every passenger has their own window seat in the fully autonomous vehicle—which means there will be no pilot on board. It was not clear if anyone else—like, say, sister Christina Poore—will join Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos and the auction winner on July 20. Between the lines New Shepard is named after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to go to space. The aerospace company bills New Shepard’s 11-minute flight past the Kármán line, which is the internationally recognized boundary of space, as “the experience of a lifetime.” In his Instagram post, Jeff Bezos wrote he has dreamed of traveling to space “ever since I was five years old.” In a related video, he added, “To see the Earth from space, that changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet [and] with humanity.” Bottom line The lesser-known Bezos is the co-founder of private equity firm HighPost Capital. He is also a volunteer firefighter for the Scarsdale Fire Department and the former head of communications for the Robin Hood Foundation, which focuses on fighting poverty in New York. But Mark Bezos was also an adman for many years prior. In 1999, Mark Bezos co-founded the ad agency Bezos-Nathanson with David Nathanson, former co-chief creative officer at ad agency DDB. In addition to DDB, Mark Bezos’ advertising career included stints at Saatchi & Saatchi and Ammirati/Puris/Lintas, which was Adweek’s National Agency of the Year in 1993. In the Instagram video, Mark Bezos said he wasn’t expecting his brother to be on the first flight and was “awestruck” by the request to join him. “What a remarkable opportunity not only to have this adventure, but to be able to do it with my best friend,” the younger Bezos added. Money generated from the winning auction bid will go to Blue Origin’s Club for the Future, which says its mission is to “inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space.” Amazon Will Buy MGM for $8.45 Billion