Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE) Stock Price, Quote, News & History | Benzinga

Richard Branson net worth history breaks the usual billionaire pattern. The Virgin founder is worth an estimated $2.8 billion at 76, about where he stood a quarter century ago, after peaking near $5.7 billion in 2021. Branson left school and launched Student magazine in 1966 at 16, then started a mail-order record business under the Virgin name in 1970. In 1972 he co-founded the Virgin Records label, which released Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells the next year and went on to sign some of the biggest acts in music. He moved into aviation with Virgin Atlantic, which flew its first route from London Gatwick to Newark on June 22, 1984, weeks before his 34th birthday. To keep the airline growing, he sold Virgin Records to Thorn EMI in 1992 for about $1 billion, a deal that cemented his billionaire status. Through the 2000s, his fortune generally stayed in the low single-digit billions as the Virgin name spread into mobile, rail, banking and fitness. By 2017 and 2018 it had climbed to about $5.1 billion, then slipped to $4.1 billion in 2019 and roughly $4.4 billion in 2020 as the pandemic grounded Virgin Atlantic. The high point came in 2021, when his estimated wealth reached about $5.7 billion, helped by Virgin Galactic's run as a public company and his own July 11, 2021 flight to the edge of space at age 70. The slide since has been steady: closer to $4 billion in 2022, about $3 billion in 2023 after Virgin Orbit collapsed into bankruptcy, roughly $2.6 billion in 2024 and 2025, and about $2.8 billion as of October 2026. For investors, Virgin Galactic remains Branson's best-known public-market link. Its shares closed at $2.43 on Oct. 16, 2026, and the company has pushed the first commercial flight of its new Delta-class spaceship to February 2027. With Virgin Money sold to Nationwide in 2024, more of Branson's wealth now depends on private Virgin businesses and the value of the brand itself. Photo of Richard Branson via Shutterstock: ZUMA Press Wire. $SPCE. #RichardBranson #Virgin #NetWorth 🌐 Find more market-moving insights at https://www.benzinga.com — your one-stop destination for the latest financial news, data, and expert analysis to stay ahead of the markets. 🖥️ Want the same tools the pros use—without the $10K Bloomberg terminal? Benzinga Edge gives you real-time portfolio alerts, weekly stock picks, and pro-grade research in one command center. 👉 https://bit.ly/4unSKiB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 📲 Follow us on socials @benzinga 🔔 Subscribe To The Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Benzinga ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ⚠️ Disclaimer: Investing in financial markets carries risk, and there are no guaranteed returns. All information is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as financial advice. Always do your own research and speak with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. Only invest what you can afford to lose. Past performance does not guarantee future outcomes.