Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Sir Richard Branson To Sell $500M In Virgin Galactic Shares

Sir Richard Branson is planning to sell $500M in shares of Mojave-based Virgin Galactic, in a bid to raise cash to finance his other airline and hotel businesses. The $500M represents about one-fifth of Branson's stake in Virgin Galactic. According to the S-1 filing by Virgin Galactic, it is currently seeing disruption to its business from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, saying the continued spread of COVID-19 may affect its ability to complete the development of its spaceflight systems, its spaceflight test programs, and result in delays or disruptions in our supply chain. However, Branson's other global businesses--which have funded Virgin Galactic--have been disrupted far more than Virgin Galactic itself, as airlines and hotels have been decimated by widespread travel shutdowns.