Richard Branson Pulls Ahead of Bezos in the Billionaires’ Race to Space

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson is set to become the first “billionaire in space,” after announcing he will fly a suborbital mission into to space as early as July 11th, which would allow him to beat Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos, who will fly on his company’s spacecraft nine days later.

Gee, who could have guessed space exploration would one-day become something of a celebrity billionaire’s game show? And, trips into space - would become “ego trips.” Simply an amusement park thrill ride for billionaires. Now, the question remains, if Bezos and Branson ever happen to pass each other in space, would they ask “Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?”

Meanwhile, in announcing his July 11th flight, Richard Branson proclaimed that “I truly believe that space belongs to all of us.” Well, thanks so much for your generosity Richard, but with tickets going for as much as $28 million a pop, I believe I’ll just stick to Uber, Greyhound, and Amtrak.

That said, I honestly can’t really blame these guys. After all, if the truth be known - I’d really love to be the first billionaire in space myself.  The only thing I’m lacking - is a billion dollars and a spaceship.  I know they must be around here somewhere.

Of course, some folks feel that rather than blow a big wade of cash flying into space, perhaps these billionaires should instead try paying their fair share of taxes. Well, this demonstrates just how far billionaires are willing to go when faced the prospect of having their taxes raised - they leave the planet.

[johnnyrobish.medium.com]