Virgin Galactic chairman resigns
Getting out while the getting is good: Chamath Palihapitiya, who has been chairman of Virgin Galactic’s board since it went public in 2019, suddenly announced today that he has resigned from the company.
Palihapitiya’s SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, took Virgin Galactic public in October 2019. The company’s stock has faced volatile trading since then — climbing above $60 a share in the months ahead of Sir Richard Branson’s test spaceflight, but it recently fell below its public debut price on news of a further delay in the start of commercial service.
The now-former chairman sold his personal Virgin Galactic stake in early 2021 that was worth over $200 million at the time. But he indirectly owns about 15.8 million shares through Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings.
Like Richard Branson, Palihapitiya sold the majority of his stock when the price was high, about the time the company flew its first and only passenger flight in July, with Richard Branson on board. His exit now suggests he wants out before the company’s dismal future prospects become obvious.
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Getting out while the getting is good: Chamath Palihapitiya, who has been chairman of Virgin Galactic’s board since it went public in 2019, suddenly announced today that he has resigned from the company.
Palihapitiya’s SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, took Virgin Galactic public in October 2019. The company’s stock has faced volatile trading since then — climbing above $60 a share in the months ahead of Sir Richard Branson’s test spaceflight, but it recently fell below its public debut price on news of a further delay in the start of commercial service.
The now-former chairman sold his personal Virgin Galactic stake in early 2021 that was worth over $200 million at the time. But he indirectly owns about 15.8 million shares through Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings.
Like Richard Branson, Palihapitiya sold the majority of his stock when the price was high, about the time the company flew its first and only passenger flight in July, with Richard Branson on board. His exit now suggests he wants out before the company’s dismal future prospects become obvious.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows 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. 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. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally 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.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four 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 or subscription:
4. 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.
I had great hopes for this company—15 years ago,. It has since become abundantly clear that the design is fatally flawed and will never support a profitable commercial business. PT Barnum’s heir Sir Richard has pretty much bailed out leaving the rest of the hapless investors on the plummeting airframe with no parachutes. It was a very entertaining thing to watch when Paul Allen and Burt Rutan were in charge and were quickly innovating to win the X Prize. I should have known better to expect much when Sir Rickie bought the franchise, scaled up a rickety design, then proceeded to allow 4 people to be recklessly killed, while pocketing the investments of thousands of others. All to culminate in his flashy “first flight” on the 52nd anniversary of Man’s first steps on the Moon. What a scam.
Concerned:
The choice of hybrid rocket propulsion for the craft alone was a massive mistake, delaying the project for many years and causing additional costs of 300 million (?) dollars. The blame lies with Burt Rutan, who, without his own knowledge of rocket technology, took the wrong advice.
The ratz desert the sinking ship. Where’s the Feds? Stopping Musk. What did you think they should be doing, dummy?
Given the fate of Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos fame (well, I guess her sentencing is still pending), how are Richard Branson and Chamath Palihapitiya any different? They sell a lie and escape with $10’s millions. Leaving the investors with a broken rocket, a broken company, and $0.
Less than zero. The investors could have invested their money elsewhere and made money
This tarnished the cause of winged spaceflight…the pilots glommed onto it and fought for it because that’s all there was. I feel for them the most.