China shares, yuan rise on hopes for last-minute trade deal - Investing.com

© Reuters. Investors look at screens showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai

By Andrew Galbraith and Noah Sin

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese shares and the yuan strengthened on Friday on signs Beijing and Washington might still be able to avert a trade deal collapse, though confidence was fragile less than an hour before a planned U.S. tariff hike on Chinese goods takes effect.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin talked for 90 minutes on Thursday in Washington, and were expected to resume negotiations on Friday.

Higher tariffs on Chinese goods are set to take effect at 0401 GMT Friday. While Asian markets were higher, investor confidence is expected to remain fickle and driven by news headlines.

"Market sentiment has improved following the progress of the latest round of Sino-U.S. trade talks, leading to a rebound from recent falls," said Zhou Liang, founder of Shanghai Minority Investment Management. "Although facing an escalating trade war, the market has been much stronger this year than last, reflecting the improved confidence of Chinese investors."

In late morning trade, the benchmark index was up 1.3 percent, having ended at an 11-week closing low in the previous session. But that was down from earlier highs that saw the index rise as much as 2.6 percent.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.5 percent, having earlier risen more than 3 percent.

In Hong Kong, the was up 0.5 percent while H-shares added 0.6 percent.

The smaller Shenzhen index was up 1.8 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 2.1 percent.

China's yuan was up 0.1 percent at 6.8191 per dollar, despite China's central bank setting the midpoint of the currency's daily trading band at its weakest level in 3-1/2 months before the market open, at 6.7912 per dollar.

"The market is not in as much fear anymore. The scale of the rally depends on whether the tariff increases will still go ahead at noon, whether two sides agree to carry on talking, and whether the U.S. president will meet with Liu He," said a Shanghai-based trader at Chinese bank, commenting on the yuan.

The soft fix came after a tariff war-inspired sell-off in the spot market on Thursday, although traders had expected it to come in even lower.

The strengthened in early trade, but by late morning had given up all its gains to trade at 6.8430 per dollar. It had weakened to a low of 6.8363 per dollar on Thursday.

Zhou Hao, senior EM economist at Commerzbank (DE:) in Singapore said rises in the yuan were largely triggered by changes in the market sentiment.

"Trump is very fickle-minded. And investor sentiment had switched from overly optimistic to overly pessimistic," he said."Without these twists and turns, a tariff hike would be negative for the market, but now investors think that even if there are higher tariffs, as long as trade negotiations continue it's a good thing," he added.

Zhou said he did not think the rebound would be sustainable, and expects the yuan to trade in a range of 6.75 to 6.9 per dollar.

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2019-05-10 04:05:00Z
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Facebook co-founder says it's time to break up the social media giant - CBC.ca

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has called for the breakup of the social network, in an opinion piece in the New York Times.

"We are a nation with a tradition of reining in monopolies, no matter how well-intentioned the leaders of these companies may be. Mark's power is unprecedented and un-American," Hughes wrote on Thursday, referring to Mark Zuckerberg, his former business partner and college roommate and the current chief executive officer of Facebook.

Facebook owns the largest social network, with more than two billion users across the world. It also owns WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, each used by more than one billion people.

Hughes co-founded Facebook in 2004 at Harvard University with Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz. He quit Facebook in 2007 and later said in a LinkedIn post that he made $500 million for his three years of work.

"It's been 15 years since I co-founded Facebook at Harvard, and I haven't worked at the company in a decade," said Hughes, who later was an online strategist for Barack Obama during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.

"But I feel a sense of anger and responsibility."

Later on Thursday, the company responded to the call from Hughes. 

"Facebook accepts that with success comes accountability. But you don't enforce accountability by calling for the breakup of a successful American company," Facebook spokesman Nick Clegg said in a statement.

"Accountability of tech companies can only be achieved through the painstaking introduction of new rules for the internet. That is exactly what Mark Zuckerberg has called for."

'Mark is a good, kind person'

In one of a number of security and privacy scandals to hit the company, Facebook is accused of inappropriately sharing information belonging to 87 million users with the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Hughes said he last met with Zuckerberg in the summer of 2017, several months before the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House energy and commerce committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2018. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)

"Mark is a good, kind person, but I'm angry that his focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks," Hughes said.

"And I'm worried that Mark has surrounded himself with a team that reinforces his beliefs instead of challenging them."

Hughes is not alone in asking for the breakup of Facebook. Some lawmakers have called for federal privacy regulation and anti-trust action to dismantle big tech companies.

To promote competition in the tech sector, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren vowed in March to break up Facebook, Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google if she's elected U.S. president.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, told CNBC on Thursday he thinks Facebook needs to be broken up, and that the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division needs to begin an investigation.

Antitrust law makes such a proposal tough to execute because the government would have to take the company to court and win. It is rare to break up a company, but not unheard of, with Standard Oil and AT&T being the two biggest examples.

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May 10, 2019 at 01:24AM

Uber shifts into lower gear, prices IPO at $45 - CBC.ca

Uber is about to embark on a wild ride on Wall Street with the biggest and most hotly debated IPO in years.

The world's leading ride-hailing service set the stage for its long-awaited arrival on the stock market by pricing its initial public offering at $45 US per share late Thursday.

The price is at the lower end of its targeted range of $44 to $50 US per share — a decision that may have been driven by the escalating doubts about the ability of ride-hailing services to make money since Uber's main rival, Lyft, went public six weeks ago.

Even at the tamped-down price, Uber now has a market value of $82.4 billion US — significantly more than century-old automakers General Motors and Ford Motor.

Uber will face its next test Friday, when its shares begin trading the New York Stock Exchange.

No matter how the stock swings, the IPO has to be considered a triumph for the company most closely associated with a ride-hailing industry that has changed the way millions of people get around while also transforming the way millions of more people earn a living in the gig economy.

The IPO raised another $8.1 billion for Uber as it tries to fend off rival Lyft in the U.S. and help cover the cost of giving rides to passengers at unprofitable prices. The San Francisco company already has lost about $9 billion since its inception and acknowledges it could still be years before it turns a profit.

A car displays Lyft and Uber stickers on its front windshield in downtown Los Angeles in this 2016 file photo. Lyft seized upon some of Uber's recent scandals to steal market share from the world's most-popular ride-hailing company. (Richard Vogel/Associated Press)

That sobering reality is one reason that Uber fell well short of reaching the $120 billion US market value that many observers believed its IPO might attain earlier this year.

Another factor working against Uber is the cold shoulder that investors have been giving Lyft's stock after an initial run-up. Lyft's shares closed Thursday 23 per cent below its IPO price of $72 US in April.

The jitters about an intensifying U.S. trade war with China also have roiled the stock market this week.

Uber boasts growth galore

Despite all that, Uber's IPO is the biggest since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group debuted with a value of $167.6 billion US in 2014.

"For the market to give you the value, you've either got to have a lot of profits or potential for huge growth," said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at Navigant Research.

And Uber boasts growth galore. Its revenue last year surged 42 per cent to $11.3 billion US while its cars completed 5.2 billion trips around the world either giving rides to 91 million passengers or delivering food.

Uber might be even more popular if not for a series of revelations about unsavoury behaviour that sullied its image and resulted in the ouster of its co-founder, Travis Kalanick, as CEO nearly two years ago.

Some drivers for ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft turned off their apps Wednesday to protest what they say are declining wages at a time when both companies are raking in billions of dollars from investors. Demonstrations took place in 10 U.S. cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington. (Kate Munsch/Reuters)

The self-inflicted wounds included complaints about rampant internal sexual harassment, accusations that it stole self-driving car technology, and a coverup of a computer break-in that stole personal information about its passengers. What's more, some Uber drivers have been accused of assaulting passengers, and one of its self-driving test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona last year while a backup driver was behind the wheel.

Uber hired Dara Khosrowshahi as CEO to replace Kalanick and clean up the mess — something that analysts say he has been able to do to some extent, although Lyft seized upon the scandals to gain market share.

Kalanick remains on Uber's board, although he isn't expected to be on the podium to help ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to herald the company's debut Friday. Instead, he will be left standing on the sidelines while the spotlight shines on other Uber executives, although Kalanick can still savour his newfound wealth. At $45 US per share, his stake in Uber will be worth $5.3 billion. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other Uber employees are expected to become millionaires in the IPO.

Drivers strike across the U.S.

Meanwhile, scores of Uber drivers say they have been mistreated by the company as they work long hours and wear out their cars picking up passengers as they struggle to make ends meet. On Wednesday, some of them participated in strikes across the United States to highlight their unhappiness ahead of Uber's IPO but barely caused a ripple. A similar strike was organized ahead of Lyft's IPO to the same effect.

In its latest attempt to make amends, Uber disclosed Thursday that it reached a settlement with tens of thousands of drivers who alleged they had been improperly classified as contractors. The company said the settlement covering most of the 60,000 drivers making claims will cost $146 million to $170 million US.

Now Uber will focus on winning over Wall Street.

Uber may be able to avoid Lyft's post-IPO stock decline because it has a different story to tell other than the potential for growth in ride-hailing, says Alejandro Ortiz, principal analyst with SharesPost. Uber, he said, has plans to be more than a ride-hailing company by being all things transportation to users of its app, offering deliveries, scooters, bicycles and links to other modes of transportation including public mass transit systems.

"Whether or not that pitch will work kind of remains to be seen. It's nearly impossible to tell now," he said. "Obviously the risk to the company now is they have a lot more shareholders that they have to convince."

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May 10, 2019 at 05:21AM

Canada's trade deficit shrank to $3.2 billion in March, StatsCan reports - CBC.ca

Statistics Canada says the country's merchandise trade deficit shrank in March as exports — led by the energy sector — rose faster than imports.

The agency says the deficit for March amounted to $3.2 billion compared with $3.4 billion in February.

Economists had expected a deficit of $2.45 billion, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The change came as Canadian exports rose 3.2 per cent to $49.0 billion as exports of energy products rose 7.7 per cent to $9.6 billion in March and motor vehicles and parts gained 5.6 per cent at $7.7 billion.

Meanwhile, imports rose 2.5 per cent to $52.3 billion, as consumer goods posted the largest increase.

Imports of consumer goods rose 6.7 per cent in March to a record $10.9 billion, boosted by imports of clothing, footwear and accessories. Imports of motor vehicles and parts rose 4.9 per cent to $9.9 billion.

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May 09, 2019 at 08:28PM

Iran's Oil Exports Implode As Sanctions Sting | OilPrice.com - OilPrice.com

Iran’s oil exports are plunging.

Waivers on U.S. sanctions for Iranian oil purchases expired earlier this month, and there is evidence that most countries are steering clear of running afoul of Washington. The result is an absolute plunge oil exports from Iran.

Bloomberg reported on May 9 that “not a single ship has been seen leaving Iran’s oil terminals for foreign ports,” according to tanker tracking data. There has been speculation that refiners in China and India might continue importing oil from Iran. India, bought 400,000 bpd from Iran in April, according to Bloomberg, stockpiling ahead of the expiration of waivers.

But so far, tanker data suggests that most parties are complying with Washington’s demands, and Iran is suffering from a tightening noose. However, Bloomberg notes that tanker data is not full-proof. Ships leaving Iran can switch off their transponders so that they “disappear” from view. For instance, there have been no tracking signals from 10 very large crude carriers for at least 16 days. Bloomberg suggests that most likely they are being used for floating storage.

Meanwhile, separate data suggests that Iran is shipping oil to Syria. In the first week of May, at least one tanker delivered crude to a Syrian port, according to CNBC, TankerTrackers.com and ClipperData.

While the precise volume exported from Iran may be higher than zero, shipments are undoubtedly crashing. Iran’s oil exports could fall from 1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) to 0.7 mb/d by this summer, according to Ann-Louise Hittle, VP Oils Research at Wood Mackenzie. Related: Exxon Presents Its Very Own Solution To Climate Change

A separate report from the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) has a different take, and concludes that “the international community, and indeed some of the waiver countries, will at best partially comply with renewed U.S. sanctions.” Not only that, but the report argues that the U.S. may have to back down a bit in the face of rising oil prices. “Our modeling also suggests that there remains a high risk of U.S. capitulation in the face of international pressure to extend or reissue waivers, or to replace them with some equivalent mechanism.” Much depends on whether or not Saudi Arabia rides to the rescue and adds supply in order to offset outages in Iran.

For now, though, the collapse of Iran’s oil exports is underway, which will significantly increase the economic pressure on the country. That may not lead to the downfall of the Iranian government, as the Trump administration hopes. If anything, it is pushing their back against the wall, likely contributing to a tit-for-tat cycle of escalation.

The U.S. seems intent on provoking Iran into making a misstep. In April, not only did the Trump administration announce that it would not extend waivers on oil purchases, it also labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization. More recently, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said that American warships heading towards the Middle East were supposed to be a message to Tehran. Finally, the Trump administration announced new sanctions on Wednesday targeting Iran’s metals exports, another crucial source of hard currency.

Iran had seemed content with waiting out the Trump administration, but with oil exports plunging and the benefits of the 2015 nuclear accord now vanishingly small, some within the Iranian government are more eager to pushback. Iran said that it would stop complying with certain parts of the nuclear deal. Related: The Biggest Catalyst In Oil Markets Is Going Unnoticed

Top American officials are beating the war drums. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran was “escalating their activity,” without providing evidence or detail. Acting Defense Secretary also said that there was “very, very credible intelligence” about an imminent threat from Iran, again without much detail. Some see echoes of the lead up to war with Iraq in 2003 in which intelligence was exaggerated. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said that while war may not be imminent, the U.S. is “putting things in place for accidents to happen.”

Although, as the Washington Post reports, it’s not clear that Trump and his national security adviser are on the same page. “Trump has said in recent days that Bolton wants to get him ‘into a war’ — a comment that he has made in jest in the past but that now betrays his more serious concerns, one senior administration official said,” the Post reported. Trump issued a statement Wednesday saying that he looks forward to “someday meeting with the leaders of Iran in order to work out an agreement.” While Bolton is out for war, it’s not clear that Trump has the same desire.

Whether or not a military confrontation is in the offing, the pressure on Iranian oil exports from the U.S. will certainly not let up.

“We expect Brent to hold a little over US$70/bbl in the coming months. But the US policy decision to throttle supply with simultaneous sanctions on Iran and Venezuela is fraught with risk,” Ann-Louise Hittle of WoodMac said. “Yes, OPEC can meet the immediate shortfall, but that leaves precious little spare capacity if there’s more supply disruption. Mounting geopolitical tension is a real threat to oil market stability.”

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:                                  

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May 10, 2019 at 06:00AM

Market movers: Stocks that saw action on Thursday - and why - The Globe and Mail

A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today

On the rise

Shares of The Stars Group Inc. (TSGI-T) jumped 14.8 per cent on Thursday after announcing a long-term deal with FOX Sports, a unit of Fox Corp. (FOXA-Q), after the bell on Wednesday for what they call a “first-of-its kind national media and sports wagering partnership in the United States.”

“The Stars Group and FOX Sports expect to launch two products in the Fall of 2019 under the FOX Bet umbrella,” they said in a release. "One will be a nationwide free-to-play game, awarding cash prizes to players who correctly predict the outcome of sports games. The second product, which will be named FOX Bet, will give customers in states with regulated betting the opportunity to place real money wagers on the outcome of a wide range of sporting events in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

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With the commercial agreement of up to 25 years and associated product launches, Fox will acquire 14,352,331 newly issued common shares in The Stars Group, or 4.99 per cent of its issued and outstanding common shares, at a price of $16.4408 per share.

In a research note, Echelon Wealth analyst Gianluca Tucci said: “Preliminary U.S. sports betting market estimates are very lucrative; we believe this announcement represents a watershed moment with a significant partner whom TSGI can leverage as a very low-cost customer acquisition channel as it carefully places a strategic and significant wager on the U.S. market. We believe this is a significant win for both parties as advertising, television, digital content, and wagering all drive user experience and raise the level of engagement. This type of deal furthers our belief that TSGI is rightfully deserving of a premium multiple relative to peers.”

Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV-T) increased 3.5 per cent after its first-quarter results blew past the expectations of the Street.

After the bell on Thursday, the company reported EBITDA and cash flow per share of $141-million and 72 cents per share, topping the analysts’ consensus forecast of $132-million and 65 cents.

Industrial Alliance Securities analyst George Topping said: “Franco-Nevada continues to demonstrate that it can deliver even in a poor gold market. Candelaria continues its recovery while Cobre Panama is coming on-line. Longer term, we estimate the GEO portfolio will grow by an average of 6-7 per cent per annum over the next five years as Cobre Panama reaches steady state.”

After raising its dividend, Cineplex Inc. (CGX-T) sat 4.6 per cent higher despite reporting a drop in attendance in the first quarter.

The theatre company reported a loss of $7.4-million, or 12 cents per share, in the quarter, versus a profit of $15.2-million or 24 cents per share during the same period a year ago, as attendance dropped 15.6 per cent.

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At the same time, Cineplex announced its monthly dividend is rising to 15 cents per share (or $1.80 annually) from 14.5 cents (or $1.74).

“Although the Q1 results were impacted by the anticipated soft box office product, we continued to execute upon our diversification strategy and are encouraged by the results from our new businesses which resulted in Q1 records for media revenue, amusement revenue and other revenue," said president and CEO Ellis Jacob in a statement.

Cascades Inc. (CAS-T) was up 9 per cent after releasing better-than-anticipated quarterly results before the bell.

The Kingsey Falls, Que.-based company reported sales of $1.23-billion, up 12-per-cent year-over-year, while earnings per share rose by a penny to 14 cents.

Superior Plus Corp. (SPB-T) sat 2.3 per cent higher following the release of better-than-anticipated quarterly results and a concurrent raise of its 2019 earnings guidance before market open.

AltaCorp analyst Nate Heywood said: “U.S. Propane Distribution segment reported a strong quarter with EBITDA of $125-million, a 209-per-centincrease over Q1/18. The significant increase was a result of the contributions of both the NGL Propane acquisition (made in Q2/18) and various tuck-in acquisitions. With the integration of NGL Propane, the customer mix changed significantly, with a larger proportion of volumes allocated to the higher margin residential customers.”

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On the decline

Canadian Tire Corp Ltd. (CTC-A-T) was down 1.7 per cent after its first-quarter profit fell short of estimates.

Raymond James analyst Kenric Tyghe said: “Canadian Tire’s first quarter adjusted EPS of $1.12 was a miss versus a (noisy) consensus estimate of $1.38. The miss was largely driven by essentially in line revenue growth of 2.8 per cent, on higher than expected comparable store sales of 6.1 per cent. While the comparable sales growth across all banners was surprisingly strong (particularly given the CTR comp of 5.8 per cent), the cost of driving that growth (which was higher than expected as reflected in the material retail gross margin compression of 107 bp).”

Spin Master Corp. (TOY-T) dropped 4.5 per cent after reporting a loss of US$20.9-million in the first quarter, hurt by the closure of Toys R Us stores south of the border.

In a research note, Raymond James analyst Kenric Tyghe said: “A tough expected quarter proved even tougher as 1Q19 revenues declined 16.3 per cent to $239.0-million (versus consensus of $252.0-million), for a very disappointing adjusted EPS miss of ($0.12) versus consensus of $0.10. While our preview highlighted the tough absolute and (peer) relative sales performance in the quarter (compounded by a material negative Easter timing shift of an estimated $25.0-million), the revenue performance was a negative surprise, compounded by an even higher than expected gross margin compression and SG&A deleveraging. The decline in revenue(and gross product sales, which decreased 16.5 per cent to $240.5-million) was driven by the absence of Toys R Us, the Easter timing shift, and foreign exchange headwinds. The weak top line performance was further impacted by massive (704 bp) gross margin compression and higher SG&A costs in quarter, for adjusted EBITDA of $7.0-million (versus an adjusted for IFRS 16 $45.6-million in 1Q18) and consensus of $29.4-million. While the results were materially more negative than expected by us and the Street, management has maintained full year guidance, leading us to conclude that while this quarter was even more of a kitchen-sinking exercise than expected, industry dynamics (and the company outlook having cleared the channel), are more positive (and weighted) in 2H19E than expected.”

Quebecor Inc. (QBR-B-T) fell 1.6 per cent following the release of in-line first-quarter financial results.

The media and telecommunications company reported revenue of $1.03-billion before the bell, up 2.5 per cent year-over-year and matching the expectation on the Street. EBITDA increased 1.2 per cent to $421-million, but fell short of analysts’ forecast of $431-million. Adjusted earnings per share of 44 cents equaled projections.

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Quebecor also hiked its quarterly dividend to 11.25 cents from 5.5 cents.

Desjardins Securities analyst Maher Yaghi said: “QBR’s 1Q19 revenue was in line with expectations, but profitability was pressured by higher subsidy costs. Subscriber numbers were broadly in line with expectations on wireline but slightly above expectations on wireless, supported by Fizz. QBR more than doubled its dividend, bringing the stock’s yield to 1.4 per cent before the market open. Overall, we believe the stock’s elevated valuation is likely to preclude the name from outperforming its peers in the medium term.”

Magna International Inc. (MG-T) was down 10 per cent after it lowered its 2019 profit forecast, as it expects higher costs on certain programs and lower earnings from a transmission joint venture in China.

Telus Corp. (T-T) sat 0.9 per cent lower despite the release of quarterly results that met expectations on the Street.

The telecommunications company reported operating revenue and adjusted earnings per share of $3.51-billion and 75 cents, which matched analysts’ projections.

It also increased its quarterly dividend to 56.25 cents from 54.5 cents.

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“TELUS achieved strong financial and operational results in the first quarter, including high quality smartphone-centric mobile phone net additions and vigorous connected device growth in wireless, alongside ongoing robust wireline customer growth”, said president and CEO Darren Entwistle in a statement. “Without question, our continued strong performance is owing in no small part to our team’s unparalleled dedication to providing exceptional customer experiences. TELUS, once again, achieved industry-leading wireless loyalty, with a record first quarter low mobile phone churn of 1.02 per cent. This unrelenting commitment to our Customers First promise is buttressed by our meaningfully differentiated product offerings, as well as the ongoing significant investments we are making synergistically in our world-leading broadband network and technologies across both our wireless and wireline operations.”

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM-A-T) slipped 1.6 per cent following the premarket release of its first-quarter results.

The alternative asset manager said it earned US$1.26 billion or 58 US cents per diluted for the quarter for the period, versus a profit of US$1.86-billion or 84 US cents during the same period a year ago.

Cronos Group Inc. (CRON-T) fell 8.1 per cent on the release of its quarterly results

The marijuana producer reported revenue was $6.5-million in first quarter, up 120 per cent from $2.9-million during the same period a year ago. Analysts had expected $7-million.

“As we continue to invest in our business, our brands and R&D initiatives, our adjusted Ebitda will likely decline over 2019 but position the company for accelerated growth in 2020,” Chief Financial Officer Jerry Barbato said on a post-earnings conference call, according to Bloomberg.

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With files from staff and wires

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May 09, 2019 at 09:03PM

Jeff Bezos unveils new plans for Blue Origin spaceflight: Live updates - CNN

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson all started their own space businesses in the early 2000s.

All three billionaires are credited with helping to usher in a new era of spaceflight by pouring money into projects once considered too risky or expensive for the private sector.

Bezos has been relatively low-key about his space endeavors which makes sense, since he's been busy reinventing retail.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX has been at the center of most of the media attention. It has developed cheap, reusable rockets that now regularly haul satellites to orbit. The company also wins high-profile contracts with NASA and the military, and it's touted bold plans for colonizing Mars.

Richard Branson

The British serial entrepreneur has also wielded his signature showmanship to promote Virgin Galactic, a space tourism venture that hundreds of customers have already lined up for. It could open for business this year.

Bezos' enormous e-commerce fortune could give Blue Origin a leg up in the billionaire space race. Bezos has said he fills Blue Origin's coffers by selling about $1 billion worth of his Amazon (AMZN) stock each year. That means the company hasn't had to worry about courting investors, which gives it a certain amount of freedom compared to its competitors.

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2019-05-09 20:24:00Z
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