Blue Origin has initiated its first external capital raise, targeting roughly $10 billion that would peg the company at about $130 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Under the reported arrangement, Jeff Bezos plans to invest $2 billion into the financing while Coatue Management, a hedge fund, will supply approximately $4 billion. The remaining $4 billion tranche has attracted strong demand from several large investors who are expected to take part, the sources said. The identities of additional participants were not disclosed.
The move to bring in outside equity follows a high-profile public offering by SpaceX last month. That IPO raised nearly $86 billion, including the underwriters' option, and gave Elon Musk's company a valuation near $2 trillion - a level that established a new benchmark for offerings in the sector.
Blue Origin was founded by Bezos in 2000 after he established Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Bezos stepped down as Amazon's chief executive in 2021 and has since devoted increased attention to Blue Origin. Historically the business was funded through Bezos' sales of Amazon stock; he has said in 2024 that he believed Blue Origin could ultimately exceed Amazon in size.
The company competes directly with SpaceX across several areas, including heavy-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers and satellite internet services. Those end markets are central to Blue Origin's strategic focus and underpinned the rationale for the reported capitalization.
Blue Origin has also been addressing a recent operational setback. In late May, a New Glenn rocket exploded on a Florida launchpad during a static hot-fire test. The company is engaged in reconstructing the damaged pad and investigating the cause of the explosion. The pad reconstruction and root-cause analysis are ongoing, the sources indicated.
The planned financing, as described by the people familiar with the discussions, would mark the first time Blue Origin has turned to external investors at scale. Details remain private and subject to confirmation by the company and the investors involved.