Sir Richard Branson Sells Another $300M In Virgin Galactic Stock: Report

Sir Richard Branson has sold another $300 million of his stock in Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. SPCE to help finance his other business activities.

What Happened: According to a Bloomberg report citing a regulatory filing, Branson jettisoned 15.6 million shares through a company he controls, which represents roughly 6% of the Las Cruces, New Mexico-based company. After the sale, he controls an 11.9% interest in Virgin Galactic that is worth about $600 million.

A Virgin Group spokesperson told Bloomberg that Branson will use the funds to support his travel and leisure businesses, which have taken a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will also allocated money for developing new and existing ventures.

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What Else Happened: Since the pandemic began, Branson has sold more than $1 billion in Virgin Galactic shares. Most recently, he sold $300 million in stock in August and $150 million in April.

Last week, the company announced that it ended its third quarter with 700 space flight reservations at $450,000 per seat. The company added it was on track for private commercial space flights to begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“Demand for space travel is strong, and we’ve been selling seats ahead of the pace we had planned,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said.

Photo: Marco Verch/Flickr Creative Commons.