A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon 2 spacecraft carrying provides to the International Space Station lifts off from pad 39A on the Kennedy Space Center. This is the twenty second resupply mission for NASA by SpaceX.
Paul Hennessy | LightRocket | Getty Images
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff stated on Monday that he is bullish on area, noting that he is an investor in Elon Musk’s SpaceX together with start-ups Astra, Swarm Technologies, and Planet Labs.
But do not anticipate Benioff to hitch Jeff Bezos on an area journey anytime quickly. Bezos, who’s stepping apart as Amazon CEO in July, stated on Monday that he’ll fly on the first passenger flight of his area firm Blue Origin, which is predicted to launch on July 20.
In an interview that aired on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Benioff recommended Bezos on the announcement.
“I think it’s very exciting that he’s willing to basically say, ‘If you want to use my product, I will use it first,'” Benioff stated. “And I think that that’s 100% the right move.”
But he is unsure he is personally excited by taking an analogous journey.
“I think I might have to take a couple of Ativans before I climb in there,” Benioff stated. (Ativan is an anti-anxiety treatment.)
One of Benioff’s area investments, Astra, got here out of stealth early final 12 months. Astra stated in February that it is going public via a particular goal acquisition firm (SPAC) that values the enterprise at $2.1 billion. On Monday, the corporate introduced the acquisition of electrical propulsion maker Apollo Fusion.
While Benioff’s funding in Astra has been reported, his involvements within the the opposite three firms he named haven’t been disclosed, and none are included amongst his 122 offers listed by PitchBook.
Most notable is SpaceX, the non-public area firm that was valued by traders earlier this 12 months at $74 billion. Benioff has recommended SpaceX up to now, together with a retweet of Musk in May 2020, through which Benioff stated “visionary leadership.” That was simply as SpaceX was getting ready to launch astronauts into area.
Benioff additionally stated he is an investor Planet Labs, whose satellite tv for pc expertise takes photographs from area, and Swarm, which goals to offer web connectivity from satellites.
“I actually think that space is a huge category that we should invest in,” Benioff stated, noting that it is an space the place Time Ventures is lively. “I think those companies are amazing in the work they’re doing. and the entrepreneurs.”
— CNBC’s Michael Sheetz contributed to this report.
