Friday, March 5, 2021

Virgin Galactic Chairman Cuts Personal Stake

The Chairman of space tourism firm Virgin Galactic, investor Chamath Palihapitiya, has reportedly sold another 6.2 million shares of his stake in the firm, worth roughly $213M, according to reports. The stake represents Palihapitiya's last personal holding in the company, although he does hold shares in a partnership that also owns parts of Virgin Galactic. The company--which developed its space vehicles in Mojave, California--has been in the midst of attempting to take its vehicles to space, and gain approval to launch paying tourists into space. Palihapitiya has yet to comment on the sale. Virgin Galactic went public via a reverse merger, using a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) in October of 2019, despite having yet to launch any tourists to space. The company is aiming now at putting people into space in 2022, although it currently is in the midst of testing delays.