Shares of Virgin Galactic dropped by 15% after its founder Sir Richard Branson said he would not invest any more cash in the space travel company.
On December 4, shares of Virgin Galactic tanked by as much as 15.38% to trade at $1.98 per unit. Later, the price slid by 13.62%. Analysts were surprised by such a movement. The reason is that Richard Branson decided not to invest any more in the company, despite considerable losses.
“We don’t have the deepest pockets after COVID, and Virgin Galactic has got $1 billion, or nearly. It should, I believe, have sufficient funds to do its job on its own,” Branson said. However, he also emphasized that he was “still loving” the Virgin Galactic project.
In November 2023, the company announced that it was cutting jobs and suspending commercial flights for 18 months starting next year. Such measures are aimed at preserving cash for the development of a larger plane. According to experts, this plane could carry passengers to the edge of space. The implementation of the project could be a new step towards space exploration.