Blue Origin closed the online auction for the very first seat in New Shepard with a winning bid of $ 28 million. Almost 7,600 people have registered to bid in 159 countries. The winning bidder flew into space on New Shepard’s first human flight on July 20 and was joined by Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark.

The seasoned auctioneer was Steve Little, who gave anonymous bidder # 107 a free spot on the very first crew to fly on Blue Origin’s spacecraft.

The proceeds were donated to the Club for the Future, the foundation of Blue Origin, to, as the company says, “inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in the world.” space “. Little, working on behalf of his longtime associates, RR Auction, not only made an exciting contribution to the huge production spotlighting America’s new top-level space race. At present, Little is the most famous auctioneer in the world. Little has a habit of auctioning other space-related memorabilia for RR Auction – perhaps the largest, getting $ 1.7 for the only private wristwatch to ever be on the surface of the moon. The watch belonged to David Scott, the commander of Apollo 15. His NASA-issued watch broke in flight and he used his own watch to time his moonwalk. The mission’s moon dust was embedded in the velcro.

For Little, serving auction houses such as Boston-based RR Auction and Chevy Chase, Boston-based Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers, it’s always the best-selling items and the celebrities that make him the number one. successful dinner tables at events and cocktails. Some of the prominent pieces he auctioned off included a painting by Claude Monet ($ 8.7 million), A Day Behind the Scenes at the Masters Golf Tournament ($ 50,000), the office where the nuclear test ban treaty was signed in 1963, letters that John F. Kennedy wrote to the mother of one of the men who died in his care during the sinking of the PT-109 in WWII, some wicks Lincoln hair and a
Woodstock program signed by Jimi Hendrix. On behalf of the watch company Breitling, Little also once auctioned off a watch that had performed a non-stop hot air balloon flight around the world; the watch was worth $ 4,500 but sold for $ 70,000. On the lower and less glamorous end, Little once sold a painting of a third-grade class for $ 9,000 – but he’s still honored and happy to be a part of the fundraising process for important causes.

Over the years he has worked with leading organizations of all sizes including the Dance Theater of Harlem, Washington Performing Arts, National Kidney Foundation, American Heart Association, and more.

Little, started his career in the early 90s as a full-time estate and trust agent at CG Sloan and Company before becoming an independent contractor for numerous auction houses. “I love being a central part of a sympathetic effort to help a good cause.” Little assimilates the duties of a master of ceremonies, his ability to ‘work a piece’ and the dynamic vocal cadences of being an auctioneer with the skills that have served him during his many years as a professional singer and musician, playing thousands of concerts, weddings, funerals, birthdays and holiday celebrations across the Mid-Atlantic region over the past 25 years. This multi-talented performer, guitarist and pianist, has been a professional musician since the age of 15. Like in auctions, it’s about bringing a little bit of rhythm and joy into people’s lives.

Steve Little Websites:
stevelittleauctions.com

stevelittlemusic.com

dementiamelodies.com