Jeff Bezos to receive 2019 IAF Excellence in Industry Award

Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, who is also the founder of space exploration company Blue Origin, will get the International Astronautical Federation Excellence in Industry Award for year 2019. The award is being given to Bezos for Blue Origin's development of New Shepard launch system and BE-3 liquid hydrogen rocket engine. Designed for human spaceflight and operational reusability, New Shepard has made 11 historic flights to space. The award will be given at the 70th International Astronautical Congress in Washington on October 22.

Jeffrey Preston Bezos (/ˈbeɪzoʊs/ BAY-zohss;[1] né Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and computer engineer. He is the founder and executive chairman of Amazon, where he previously served as the president and CEO. With a net worth of around US$200 billion as of December 2021, he is the second-wealthiest person in the world according to both Forbes and Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.[2][3]

The first centibillionaire on the Forbes wealth index,[7] Bezos was named the "richest man in modern history" after his net worth increased to $150 billion in July 2018.[8] In August 2020, according to Forbes, he had a net worth exceeding $200 billion.[9] In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bezos's wealth grew by approximately $24 billion.[10] On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as the CEO of Amazon and transitioned into the role of executive chairman; Andy Jassy, the chief of Amazon's cloud computing division,[11][12] replaced Bezos as the CEO of Amazon. On July 20, 2021, Jeff Bezos flew to space alongside his brother Mark.[13] The suborbital flight lasted over 10 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of 66.5 miles (107.0 km).[14]