Billionaire Richard Branson sells off another $300m stake in Virgin Galactic November 16, 2021 British billionaire Richard Branson has sold off a further $300m worth of stock in his space venture Virgin Galactic, taking the total offloaded this year to some $600m. The unlocked capital is reportedly set to be pumped into Branson’s travel and leisure businesses, after emergency pandemic restrictions bruised profits. Shares sank more than four per [...]
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit to go public through $3.2bn Spac deal August 23, 2021 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit will go public through a blank-cheque deal that values the company at $3.2bn (£2.3bn), it confirmed today. The small satellite launch firm will merge with special purpose acquisition company (Spac) NextGen Acquisition Corp. The deal also includes $100m of so-called Pipe (private investment in public equity) funding from backers including [...]
Sir Richard Branson sells $300m of Virgin Galactic stock August 13, 2021 Sir Richard Branson has sold $300m worth of shares in Virgin Galactic, a regulatory filing showed, with the proceeds earmarked to help support the billionaire’s other ventures. The 71-year-old, who last month flew to the edge of space in his firm’s first ever manned flight, sold 10.5m shares, or about 4.0 per cent of the [...]
To infinity and beyond – for $450,000, Virgin Galactic says August 6, 2021 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic will charge passengers $450,000 (£323,500) for a seat on one of its space flights, the firm has announced. The company reopened ticket sales last night, just weeks after its founder successfully completed a flight to the edge of space. At $450,000, tickets are now twice the price paid by 600 [...]
Screenshot: Have Bezos and Branson ushered in a new era of space tourism? July 23, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Badger, mushroom, snake **Have Bezos and Branson ushered in a space tourism boom? **No more chill for Netflix Media Moment of the Week: Badger, mushroom, snake Want to feel old? The iconic animated badger video (you know the one) is now almost 18 years old. Aside from lamenting [...]
Richard Branson set for space flight aboard Virgin Galactic rocket July 11, 2021 Sir Richard Branson is today due to launch into space aboard a Virgin Galactic rocket plane as he kicks off the race to roll out space tourism. The British billionaire will be one of six people aboard the plane, which will climb more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert to the edge of [...]
Branson and Bezos space race outruns insurers July 9, 2021 Billionaires Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are reportedly launching into space without insurance for injury or death. Brokers told the NYT’s Dealbook newsletter neither Branson or Bezos, or their respective companies Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, have purchased liability insurance. This is most likely because there isn’t a fully functioning insurance system for casual [...]
Virgin Galactic granted license to take customers to space June 25, 2021 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has today received a commercial licence to fly customers into space, the firm announced today. The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has updated its existing licence to fly test missions to include commercial passengers. The decision to grant the company a full license comes after a successful test flight last [...]
Richard Branson to take satellites firm public in $3bn Spac listing June 13, 2021 Sir Richard Branson is in talks to take his satellite launch firm public through a $3bn (£2.1bn) blank-cheque deal. The tycoon is finalising a deal to merge Virgin Orbit with NextGen Acquisition II, a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) set up by former Goldman Sachs banker George Mattson, Sky News reported. Branson’s Virgin Group empire [...]
Ready, set, go: Britain is bound for the next space race May 26, 2021 The UK is bound for a seat in the next space race, the transport secretary has said today, as the government preps for Virgin’s commercial Orbit mission – the UK’s first space-bound flight. The National Space Agency (NSA) confirmed on Monday that spaceflights will soon be a reality as the government has funded spaceports that [...]