Virgin Galactic shares fall after Richard Branson dumps another huge stake worth $300 million

Investing

In this article

Sir Richard Branson waves out the window of spacecraft VSS Unity before launching on July 11, 2021.
Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson sold more of his ownership of the space tourism company this week, dumping another huge stake to fund his other ventures.

Branson, through his Virgin Investments group, sold 10.4 million shares of Virgin Galactic this week at various prices, ranging between $25.75 a share and $34.39 a share. The stake was worth $300 million in total, according to InsiderScore.com.

Shares of Virgin Galactic fell 3% in premarket trading on Friday from its previous close of $25.94 a share.

A Virgin Group statement said that Branson’s parent company “intends to use the net proceeds from this sale to support its portfolio of global leisure, holiday and travel businesses that continue to be affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to supporting the development and growth of new and existing businesses.

“The Virgin Group continues to be the largest single shareholder in Virgin Galactic,” the statement added.

The stake sale is Branson’s third since taking Virgin Galactic public through a SPAC in 2019, with his earlier sales worth $504.5 million and $150.3 million in May 2020 and April 2021, respectively.

Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro.
Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. 
Sign up to start a free trial today.

Products You May Like

Articles You May Like

Stocks making the biggest midday moves: Coinbase, First Citizens, Roku and more
IMF’s Georgieva warns of increased risks to financial stability
Sergio Ermotti returns as UBS chief to steer Credit Suisse takeover
Op-ed: Thinking of moving your primary residence to a tax-advantaged state? Take these steps
SEC raised concerns over hedge fund Rokos after losing bond bets

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *