Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is raising approximately $10 billion in its first-ever outside funding round, valuing the rocket company at $130 billion, sources told CNBC. The landmark fundraising comes just weeks after Elon Musk's SpaceX raised nearly $86 billion in the largest IPO on record.
Bezos is personally contributing $2 billion to the round, while hedge fund Coatue Management is investing approximately $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The remaining $4 billion has attracted significant demand from several major investors.
The funding round marks a pivotal shift for Blue Origin, which Bezos had previously funded entirely through sales of his Amazon stock. In 2024, Bezos said he believed Blue Origin would one day be a bigger company than Amazon.
Blue Origin competes with SpaceX in many of the same markets, including heavy-lift rockets, lunar landers, and satellite internet, though Musk's company maintains a significant lead in most areas. The company suffered a setback in late May when one of its New Glenn rockets exploded on a Florida launchpad during a static hot-fire test.
Bezos and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp have set an aggressive goal to return New Glenn to flight by the end of 2026. The rocket is key to Blue Origin's upcoming missions for NASA, Amazon, and AST SpaceMobile.
"It's a good time, actually, to start thinking about the future and bring on some other outside investors," Bezos told CNBC in May when asked about outside investment.
