Amazon.com topper Jeff Bezos possesses an estimated personal wealth of $9 billion. He's come a long way, too. Born to a teenage mother and a disappearing dad, Bezos also survived the dotcom bust. But according to a weekend profile in the Times, all the success has gone straight to Bezos's head and exploded it. The man is nuts. As in, he's trying to monetize space travel.

The plan behind his new company Blue Origin, Bezos toldTimes interviewer Andrew Davidson is for zero-gravity flights to be a go in 2010. Rivals say Bezos has spent nearly $500 million on his thin-air venture. But Davidson couldn't get Bezos to confirm it. "We don't say," Bezos tells Davidson and then laughs a laugh Davidson describes as a "nervous tic." (Photo by AP/Ted S. Warren)