Branson sells USD300 million stake in Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson has offloaded more of his ownership stake in the space tourism business to help prop up other brands including Virgin Atlantic.
Branson, via his Virgin Investments group, sold 10.4 million shares worth about $300 million.
"The Virgin Group continues to be the largest single shareholder in Virgin Galacti. intends to use the net proceeds from this sale to support its portfolio of global leisure, holiday and travel businesses that continue to be affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic," Virgin Group said in a statement.
It is Branson’s third sale of stock since Virgin Galactic went public in 2019.
Through the share sales he is thought to have recoupled nearly $1 billion of his initial investment.
He sold $505 million worth in May 2020 and $150 million a year later.
Virgin Atlantic itself could go public soon according to recent reports.
The airline said it is hopeful the US will allow travel from the UK by next month.
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