Jeff Bezos Says He Is Selling $1 Billion a Year in Amazon Stock to Finance Race to Space -br By NICHOLAS ST. FLEURAPRIL 5, 2017br COLORADO SPRINGS — Standing against the backdrop of his New Shepard rocket booster and a full-scale mock capsule for carrying humans into space, Jeff Bezos revealed on Wednesdaybr that he was selling about $1 billion in Amazon stock a year to finance his Blue Origin rocket company.br Mr. Bezos, who hopes to build Blue Origin into a commercial and tourist venture, also disclosedbr that it would cost about $2.5 billion to develop an even bigger rocket, New Glenn, capable of lifting satellites and, eventually, people into orbit.br However, Mr. Bezos and his Blue Origin team believebr that New Shepard, which is expected to fly many times, will give the company ample practice and experience that can be applied to New Glenn, which will be manufactured and launched in Florida.br “I still think we can do commercial paying passengers in 2018.”br Asked how much passengers would pay, Mr. Bezos said he did not know yet,br but he predicted ticket prices would decline as spaceflight became more common.br “You will see creativity, you will see dynamism, you will see the same thing in space that I’ve witnessed on the internet in the last 20 years.”br Last month, Mr. Bezos announced the first-paying customer, Eutelstat, a satellitebr company, for New Glenn, whose commercial flights would help offset costs.