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Richard Branson engages in sell-off, as spaceflight hype fades among Virgin Atlantic investors

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Virgin Galactic founder, Richard Branson, has cashed in on the spaceflight hype as it fades a month after he beat Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, to the billionaire race.

During the much talked about space travel, Virgin Atlantic stock value rose, as investors saw extra value in the space expedition which is expected to be another source of income.

The hype around Branson’s plan to launch spaceflight renewed investors interest, causing a surge in Virgin Atlantic share demand, which pushed the share value up.

READ ALSO: ‘This is more magical than I ever imagined,’ Virgin Atlantic chief, Richard Branson shares space experience

In the first week of May 2021, the stock was trading a little above $20, but it rose to an high of $54.84 per share on June 28, two weeks before his spaceflight scheduled for July 11.

Since he got back from the expedition, the stock had traded down between $40.69 and $34.76 per share, as the company is expected to ground its spacecraft for about eight months after next month’s flight.

As the spaceflight hype fades among investors in the capital market, Branson engaged in profit-taking by disposing 10,416,000 shares in a series of transactions at prices ranging from $25.21 to $34.76 per share, according to SEC filing.

Since Branson sold off some of his shares, Virgin Atlantic stock price is down by 0.07 percent, and currently sells for $25.35, against last week Friday’s $25.37 per share.

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