Richard Branson has sold more shares in his Virgin Galactic group in an effort to raise capital to prop up Virgin Atlantic, which has been heavily impacted by the pandemic.
It’s the third time he has sold large chunks of his Virgin Galactic shares since its 2019 flotation on the New York Stock Exchange.
In May 2020 Branson sold $505 million-worth of shares and followed up by offloading another $150 million in April 2021.
He still owns around 46 million shares that are currently valued at $1.2 billion.
The most recent sale of 10.4 million shares – at prices of between $25 and $34 – comes a month after the entrepreneur became the first billionaire to successfully launch a fully crewed private flight into suborbital space.
Last Monday (9 August) it was reported that Virgin Atlantic was considering an unexpected flotation on the London Stock Exchange in the autumn.
