Richard Branson has sold around $300 million worth of shares in Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. to raise money for other parts of his pandemic-battered global business, further whittling down his stake in the space tourism company that he founded.
The British billionaire’s Virgin Group said on Friday that it sold 10,416,000 shares on Thursday, in a sale that reduces the stake to 18%.
“Virgin 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,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
Mr. Branson’s business empire—straddling airlines, cruise ships, hotels and gyms—is trying to recover from the economic hit that many tourism and travel-focused businesses have suffered during the health crisis. Virgin Galactic Holdings and satellite-launch company Virgin Orbit have been bright spots.
Last month, Mr. Branson beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos into space in a high-profile trip that took him on a Virgin Galactic Holdings spacecraft more than 50 miles above Earth. Mr. Bezos followed soon after aboard a spacecraft developed by his company Blue Origin LLC.
