Branson seeks new capital for Virgin Galactic/Orbit
Capitalism in space: Apparently short of cash because of his cancellation of a $1 billion investment space deal with Saudi Arabia, Richard Branson has hired a finance firm to find him new capital for his two space companies Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit.
Sources said this weekend that Sir Richard was seeking funding that would value Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, which launches satellites for commercial customers, at a combined sum of well over $2bn (£1.55bn).
The precise amount that he is looking to raise has yet to be determined, but people close to the process suggested it would be at least $250m (£193m), representing a minority stake.
The structure of a deal could see new shareholders injecting money into either, or both, Virgin-branded space companies.
I will not be surprised if Branson gets the investment capital for Virgin Orbit. I will also not be surprised if he has trouble finding anyone willing to invest a lot in Virgin Galactic. In fact, this shortage in capital might spell the end of this fourteen year effort at building a reusable spacecraft designed to provide suborbital tourism.
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Capitalism in space: Apparently short of cash because of his cancellation of a $1 billion investment space deal with Saudi Arabia, Richard Branson has hired a finance firm to find him new capital for his two space companies Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit.
Sources said this weekend that Sir Richard was seeking funding that would value Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, which launches satellites for commercial customers, at a combined sum of well over $2bn (£1.55bn).
The precise amount that he is looking to raise has yet to be determined, but people close to the process suggested it would be at least $250m (£193m), representing a minority stake.
The structure of a deal could see new shareholders injecting money into either, or both, Virgin-branded space companies.
I will not be surprised if Branson gets the investment capital for Virgin Orbit. I will also not be surprised if he has trouble finding anyone willing to invest a lot in Virgin Galactic. In fact, this shortage in capital might spell the end of this fourteen year effort at building a reusable spacecraft designed to provide suborbital tourism.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
He’s happy to risk your money, not his, but Branson is such a huckster, he’ll find some dxxn fool to pony up. He’s the master of selling “the sizzle, not the steak”
Col-
good stuff!
“Big Hat, No Cattle”
Randy Newman
https://youtu.be/hdgcyT_nsBA
4:24
The contrast between Virgin Whatever and SpaceX is certainly interesting. Musk has to go out fundraising, too, but SpaceX has a track record of getting things done, and his next-step projects are highly visible. Why would anyone give Branson more money?
Blue Origin is a different comparison, and nominally in the suborbital tourist business. And Bezos doesn’t have to do any fundraising; he just sells another billion dollars of Amazon stock. On the other hand, New Shepard is, what, about a year behind promises of humans in flight? And doesn’t seem to be in any hurry. It must be nice to be so well-insulated from paying customers.
I remember his failed balloon flights.
All promotion.
Why would anyone give Branson more money?
There’s an investor born every minute! More seriously, Branson’s been around since 1950, so he’s 20 years older than Elon Musk. He’s got a personal worth of about 5 billion dollars — about a quarter of Musk’s net worth, but not a shabby amount. And his Virgin group contains over 400 companies, with about 71 thousand employees, doing roughly 25-30 billion dollars of business each year. (Comparable figures for Musk, two major companies, SpaceX and Tesla, with 3 or 4 subsidiaries; around 66 thousand employees, about the same amount of business — although estimating this is murky.) Bear in mind, the UK has about one quarter the population of the USA, so Branson’s accomplishments are more significant than they might seem at first hand to Americans,
All this from Wikipedia BTW — I’ve no personal knowledge of either guy and have no money invested with either. But my guess is some people invest in Branson’s companies based on their knowledge of specific industries, and some people invest because of their confidence in the man himself, or more likely in their interpretatation of his image. I’ll note that both Branson and Musk seem a bit … flamboyant. As for which is the better businessman …. time will tell. Strictly as a matter of accounting, I’m inclined to think it’s Branson, but he’s not the innovator that Musk is, and he’s pushing 70 — I rather doubt the Virgin group is going to hold together after he dies or retires.
This should be no surprise.
If regular people got high enough they just might see the edge. That definitely wouldn’t be good for the establishment.