Virgin Galactic chairman divests $213m worth of shares

Space travel company Virgin Galactic chairman Chamath Palihapitiya has divested his remaining stake in the firm.

Between 2 and 3 March, Palihapitiya sold 6.2 million shares of Virgin Galactic Common Stock in multiple open market transactions.

The shares were sold at per-share prices ranging from $31.86 to $38.00. At average selling prices, the amount was worth $213m.

Palihapitiya tweeted: “I freed up some capital by selling some shares in $SPCE so I can keep investing at scale without impacting my pace and strategic view. I hated to do it but my balance sheet shrank by almost $2bn this week.”

Palihapitiya, who helped the company go public through a SPAC deal in 2019, the sale was made with the aim of making significant investments towards fighting climate change.

In a statement to CNBC, he said: “The details of this investment will be made public in the next few months. I remain as dedicated as ever to Virgin Galactic’s team, mission and prospects.”

Virgin Galactic completed significant milestones on a second spaceship and is planning to start rolling out on 30 March.

Last month, Virgin Galactic delayed the next spaceflight test of its SpaceShipTwo Unity to May and pushing the beginning of flying passengers to early next year.