The Dutch teenager who joined Jeff Bezos on his historic trip to space has revealed he's never actually ordered anything from Amazon.
On July 20, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen made history when he traveled to the edge of space alongside Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the billionaire's brother, Mark Bezos, and aviation icon Wally Funk.
The journey marked the first manned trip to space for Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin, as the four individuals experienced the 10-minute-30-second-long trip in the New Shepard spacecraft.
However, despite sharing such a momentous occasion with the Amazon founder, the young physics student has since revealed that he has never used the online shopping service that made Bezos a billionaire.
Per The Independent, three days after his trip to space, Daemen told reporters at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport: "I told Jeff, like, I’ve actually never bought something from Amazon.
"And he was like, 'Oh, wow, it’s a long time ago I heard someone say that.'"
Yes, we're now living in a world where it is a genuinely surprise if somebody hasn't ordered anything from Amazon.
Daemen joined the crew when the former winner of an auction for a place on the flight was forced to drop out due to prior commitments.
At 18 years old, he is the youngest person to ever travel into space.
Per Insider, Bezos thanked his Amazon employees for their efforts in helping make his space ambitions a reality in a press conference held after the capsule successfully touched down in the West Texas desert.
Wearing his flight suit and a large cowboy hat, the world's richest man told reporters:
"I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this."
However, Bezos' statement has been savaged by a number of critics on social media; including New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who took to Twitter to write: "Yes, Amazon workers did pay for this - with lower wages, union-busting, a frenzied and inhumane workplace, and delivery drivers not having health insurance during a pandemic."
Ocasio-Cortez added: "And Amazon customers are paying for it with Amazon abusing their market power to hurt small business."
