Blue Origin funding round adds $87 billion to Bezos’s estimated wealth

A new funding round values Blue Origin at $140 billion, lifting Jeff Bezos’s estimated fortune by $87 billion and placing him second on Bloomberg’s billionaire ranking.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index put Bezos’s wealth at $368.5 billion after the round, behind Elon Musk at $1.02 trillion. The $140 billion figure is a private-company valuation, not a public market price for Blue Origin.

The deal is the space company’s first outside investment since it was founded in 2000. PitchBook data cited by Al Jazeera identify Coatue Management as the only newly disclosed investor, with a contribution of about $4 billion.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Bezos invested about $30 billion in Blue Origin since its founding, including $2 billion in the latest round. The company had relied mainly on its founder’s backing before opening equity to outside investors.

Al Jazeera’s report, citing the Wall Street Journal, puts SpaceX’s revenue last year at about $18.7 billion, compared with roughly $800 million for Blue Origin. Reuters separately reported that Blue Origin raised $10 billion from outside investors in the round. Bezos said this week the company may pursue an IPO in coming years.