What Is Lane Bess' Net Worth? Makes Millions in Cybersecurity

Venture capitalist and cybersecurity businessman Lane Bess has grown his net worth to an impressive amount. In fact, his dealings in the tech industry allowed him to afford a trip to space aboard a Blue Origin rocket in December 2021, though he wasn't allowed to disclose just how much he paid.

During his trip to space, Bess was joined by four other passengers including Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, who's the daughter of Alan Shepard — the first American in space. Keep reading to find more about Bess and how he became wealthy enough to land on Jeff Bezos' radar and into one of his Blue Origin rockets.

Bess is the principal and founder of Bess Ventures and Advisory, which he uses to leverage "funds generated from his operational success to help other firms create their path to positive outcomes," according to his Carnegie Mellon University bio.

Despite the success he has had with Bess Ventures, the venture capitalist is best known for helping launch cybersecurity companies Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) and Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW).

Zscaler, which was founded in 2007 by Jay Chaudhry, protects thousands of customers from cyber attacks and data loss by allowing them to make secure connections. The company says it has reached 250 billion daily transactions secured at the time of this writing.

Bess's LinkedIn profile reports that he earned a B.S. in Manager Economics from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the University of Dayton. He worked as an executive vice president at Trend Micro before becoming the president and CEO of Palo Alto Networks and then CEO of Zscaler.

His Carnegie Mellon bio revealed that Bess has “built three billion-dollar companies in Internet security” through his work with Trend Micro, Palo Alto Networks, and Zscaler.

If those resume entries weren’t enough, Bess is also a Carnegie Mellon trustee, and he “supports philanthropic interests across health and social issues” alongside his family members, Blue Origin adds.

Tickets to space can’t be cheap, but Bess has an estimated net worth of at least $235 million. Wallmine also noted that Bess owns more than 109,000 units of Zscaler stock.

Bess had the pleasure of flying to space alongside some big names and his son, Cameron, making them the first parent-child duo to travel to space together.

According to a Blue Origin tweet, Cameron is “a content creator with a passion for creating and expressing themselves in ways that can brighten a person’s day.” He also "identifies as pansexual and is proud to represent marginalized communities and hopes their journey can inspire others."

Cameron studied computer science and game design at DigiPen Institute for Technology in Washington, and they have “developed an engaged community across multiple platforms, producing original content and developing proprietary software to support their audience.”

The other two customers who paid for tickets on Blue Origin’s Dec. 9, 2021, flight are space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor and investor Evan Dick. Strahan and Churchley are “honorary guests” on the flight.

In addition to buying a ticket for space, Bess is also investing his money in property. In December 2022, Bess reportedly paid $26 million for a home in Miami Beach.

The home, which is located at 70 W. San Marino Drive, features two stories, seven bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, and one half bathroom.