Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder Jeff Bezos became the latest billionaire to travel to space, but a comment he made after the flight has generated some criticism.
What Happened: A post-flight press conference featured Bezos and the three other members of the flight, including the youngest and oldest person to ever go to space.
A comment from Bezos was laughed at by the audience, but isn't generating many laughs on Twitter Inc TWTR.
“I also want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer, cause you guys paid for all of this,” Bezos said. He went on to again thank them “from the bottom of my heart.”
Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Jeff Bezos
What Did Bezos Mean?: Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 in hopes of lowering the cost of space travel. Blue Origin is a private company and doesn't generate revenue right now.
The company was quiet for years until the press was invited in 2016 to the company’s headquarters.
In 2017, Bezos committed to selling $1 billion of his Amazon shares annually to help fund Blue Origin.
The rising price of Amazon's stock, which is up 380% over the past five years, directly benefitted Blue Origin as Bezos's shares were worth more and could be used as a funding source.
Benzinga's Take: Amazon was a huge beneficiary of the COVID-19 pandemic as more people chose to shop online with e-commerce platforms like Amazon. The company has also faced accusations of not doing enough to keep employees safe during the pandemic and fighting against employees forming unions.
The success of Blue Origin can be traced to Bezos's sales of Amazon shares. While the comment may have been true that Amazon customers and employees helped with the launch, it was likely not an overly supportive thing to say.
Photo: Courtesy of Blue Origin
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