After 25 years of writing the cheques himself, Bezos is opening Blue Origin to outsiders

"Chief executive Dave Limp told employees at a recent all-hands meeting that hitting the company's launch-cadence targets would take more capital than a single backer could reasonably provide, and that external funding was now an option on the table, according to two attendees cited by the Financial Times."

"The launch-cadence target is 100 a year. The cumulative bill so far is roughly $28bn. Blue Origin is preparing to take outside money for the first time in its 25-year history. Chief executive Dave Limp told employees at a recent all-hands meeting that hitting the company's launch-cadence targets would take more capital than a single backer could reasonably provide, and that external funding was now an option on the table."

"Blue Origin is expected to spend roughly $4.8bn this year, according to Capstone analyst Josh Parker, and has spent close to $28bn since it was founded in 2000. Jeff Bezos has funded all of it, largely through Amazon stock sales. He now owns 9% of Amazon, down from above 10% a year ago, after a year of programmatic disposals that will continue through 29 May under his current trading plan."

"The timing is not subtle. SpaceX is targeting a June listing at a $1.75tn valuation , which would be the largest IPO in history, slightly ahead of Saudi Aramco. The S-1 was filed confidentially on 1 April under the codename Project Apex. Reuters has reported a $75bn raise and up to 30% of the offering set aside for retail investors."

Blue Origin is preparing to seek outside capital for the first time in its 25-year history. Chief executive Dave Limp told employees that meeting launch-cadence targets requires more capital than one backer can reasonably provide, making external funding an option. The company’s launch-cadence target is 100 launches per year, with cumulative spending of roughly $28 billion so far. Blue Origin is expected to spend about $4.8 billion this year. Jeff Bezos has funded the company largely through Amazon stock sales, and his Amazon stake has declined to about 9% as disposals continue through May 29. The timing coincides with market attention on SpaceX’s planned IPO.

Read at TNW | Space