British business magnate Sir Richard Branson has taken steps to sell US$485 million worth of stock in his space venture, Virgin Galactic, to “support [his] global leisure, holiday and travel businesses”.
In an order made out to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday (local time), Sir Richard filed a prospectus for the sale of 25 million shares in the company. According to listing prices as of Tuesday, this works out to just under half a billion US dollars – or 22 per cent of the company.
“Virgin intends to use any proceeds to support its portfolio of global leisure, holiday and travel businesses that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19,” said a spokesman for Virgin Group in an official statement.
Virgin Galactic underwent an initial public offering (IPO) late last year, listing on the NYSE at US$10. Despite a bearish start to the year for the broader market, Galactic stocks have since doubled in value.
Last month, Sir Richard came under fire from the British media after calling for government support to Virgin Atlantic after asking thousands of employees to take unpaid leave.
In the weeks following, he responded by investing £215 million into Virgin Group and offering his private island as collateral.
It is unclear how the move will affect the Virgin Australia administration, given Sir Richard’s personal stake in the airline is limited to a 10 per cent shareholding and royalty revenues from use of the Virgin branding.
