Planet burns while billionaires soar Michael Makowski Progressive Media Project (TNS) While record-breaking wildfires burned across the Western United States, Amazon executive chairman and billionaire Jeff Bezos stepped out of his space capsule to a crowd of cheering fans. His company Blue Origin’s first launch into space was a success. Bezos became the second billionaire to reach space and cement his stature as a leading private space industry figure. The three billionaires building the private space industry so far are: Richard Branson with Virgin Galactic, Elon Musk with SpaceX and Bezos with Blue Origin. Musk has yet to make the trip to space himself.