A seat on a spaceflight with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin was auctioned off for $8 million on Monday by billionaire Ken Griffin, the CEO and founder of hedge firm Citadel.
“Buy one, give one” auction seats on Bezos’ company’s New Shepard rocket were given to a local teacher at Robin Hood’s annual event for New York City.
Griffin, on the other hand, will not go into space on his alone, preferring to give up his seat to two instructors.
New York City’s Department of Education, Blue Origin, and Robin Hood are working together to pick two teachers for the spaceflight, according to a Robin Hood spokesman. An announcement on “the process and timeframe” is expected to be made shortly.
In addition, the launch date for the New Shepard is still up in the air, according to a Blue Origin spokeswoman, and the corporation has no plans to auction off the flight’s last four seats.
After launching from Blue Origin’s own site in West Texas, the New Shepard rocket travels to a height of around 340,000 feet, where the crew experiences approximately two minutes of weightlessness.
A $20 million difference between Griffin’s offer and the winning price of Blue Origin’s auction for a seat on its debut New Shepard trip last year is notable.