www.zerohedge.com by TYLER DURDEN
Entrepreneur Glen de Vries, who flew to space on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin with William Shatner, died in a plane crash on Thursday, according to CBS News, citing New Jersey State Police.
De Vries,49, was killed in a small plane crash in Hampton Township, about 60 miles west of New York City, around 1500 ET Wednesday. Another passenger, 50yo Thomas P. Fischer, was also killed in the crash.
De Vries is the co-founder of Medidata Solutions, a top-rated clinical research platform that has handled over 25,000 clinical trials involving seven million patients.
“Our thoughts and support go out to Glen’s family,” a Dassault SystĂšmes spokesperson said in a statement Friday. Dassault acquired Medidata in 1999 for $5.8 billion.
“Our deepest sympathy also goes out to our MEDIDATA team, which Glen co-founded. His tireless energy, empathy and pioneering spirit left their mark on everyone who knew him. We will truly miss Glen, but his dreams â which we share â live on: we will pursue progress in life sciences & healthcare as passionately as he did,” the spokesperson said.Â
He spent ten minutes in space with legendary actor William Shatner and two others aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin capsule in October.
After the flight, de Vries told CBS that it was like an experience unlike any other:
“I thought that would be important to me before we went up, and having done it makes me feel twice as much conviction. Maybe a thousand times more conviction. That is something we need to make accessible, in an equitable way, to as many people on the planet as possible,” he said.Â
De Vries was a private pilot. The FAA is investigating the crash.
