Bidder pays R384m for Bezos space trip

LOS ANGELES: An anonymous bidder paid $28 million (R384m) for a trip to space with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos during a recent live auction.

The bidder will fly with Bezos and his younger brother Mark on his rocket company Blue Origin’s spacecraft in July.

More than 7 500 people from 159 countries registered to bid in the online auction, with 20 going through to the final round.

The money from the bid will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, which promotes science and technology among young people. The name of the auction winner will be released soon. Passengers will be launched 100km above Earth’s surface on the 10-minute trip to experience microgravity.