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☆ Branson's Virgin Orbit to return small team from near-total furlough
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit (VORB.O) plans to return on Thursday a small group of employees from a near company-wide furlough to work on rocket upgrades, three people familiar with the matter said, with the company confirming it had recalled some team members. The number of employees due to return to work at the cash-strapped company was not immediately clear. Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart announced the return of some staff from furlough in an email to employees on Tuesday night, said the three people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal company matters. Virgin Orbit said in a statement that it was targeting an "incremental resumption" of operations to support its next launch. Virgin Orbit shares fell to a fresh record low close of $0.44 on Tuesday.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: GameStop, Luminar Technologies, Virgin Orbit & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

GameStop — The meme stock surged 44% after the company posted a quarterly profit for the first time in two years Tuesday. Luminar Technologies — Shares dropped nearly 9.2% after being downgraded by Goldman Sachs to sell from neutral. Petco Health and Wellness — The stock fell by 7.8% in early morning trading after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street's expectations. First Republic — Shares of the regional bank fell by 4.2% in premarket trading after jumping nearly 30% in Tuesday's session. Sales in China fell short of analyst expectations, and the company continued working through its inventories, which weighed on margins.

☆ Exclusive: Virgin Orbit near deal to raise $200 mln from Matthew Brown - term sheet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Billionaire Richard Branson's cash-strapped Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (VORB.O) is nearing a deal for a $200-million investment from Texas-based venture capital investor Matthew Brown via a private share placement, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters. Matthew Brown Companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Virgin Orbit and Matthew Brown are aiming to close the deal on Friday, according to the term sheet, which is not binding and remains subject to final agreement. Virgin Orbit's board agreed to move forward with the deal at a meeting held on Tuesday, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Under the deal, Matthew Brown will be entitled to convert his $200 million investment in Virgin Orbit's preferred shares into common shares at the volume weighted average price in the 30 days before the deal is signed.

☆ Virgin Orbit raising $200 million from investor Matthew Brown, closing deal as soon as Thursday
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Virgin Orbit is in final talks to raise funds from Texas-based investor Matthew Brown, two people familiar with the deal told CNBC, amounting to an injection of $200 million. The deal comes as Virgin Orbit scrambles to rebuild its cash coffers and avoid a potential bankruptcy filing, CNBC earlier reported. Virgin Orbit did not respond to CNBC's request for comment. Shares of Virgin Orbit surged 50% in early trading Wednesday from the stock's previous close of 44 cents a share. Virgin Orbit has been looking for new funds for several months, with majority owner Richard Branson unwilling to fund the company further.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Nvidia, First Republic, Nike, GameStop and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Wall Street analysts lauded the company's artificial intelligence leadership following its developer conference Tuesday. First Republic Bank — Shares of the regional bank were down nearly 16% on Wednesday. Its results can't be compared with Wall Street estimates because too few analysts cover the company. Petco Health and Wellness — Shares fell 17.5% after the company reported earnings. The Wall Street firm believes the self-driving car software stock is too expensive and could fall 35% from Tuesday's close.

☆ Virgin Orbit starts to plan for insolvency amid rescue talks, Sky News reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 19 (Reuters) - Aircraft engineering company Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (VORB.O) has begun drawing up detailed contingency plans for its insolvency days after halting its operations and furloughing its workforce, Sky News reported on Sunday. Richard Branson's Virgin Group is working with restructuring firms Alvarez & Marsal and Ducera about fallback plans if they cannot secure new funding, the report added. Last week, Reuters reported that Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart told staff in a meeting that the furlough was intended to buy the company time to finalize a new investment plan to help pull it out of its financial woes, while the duration of the furlough remained unclear. Virgin Orbit did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson’s Satellite-Launch Venture, Has Fallen Fast
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Alistair Macdonald | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Two months ago, Richard Branson ’s Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. was poised to make history delivering the first satellites into orbit from the billionaire’s home country of the U.K.That high-profile launch from Cornwall, England, went badly, ending in the destruction of its satellite payload and triggering a probe into what went wrong.

☆ You’ve heard about the 4-day workweek — but what about the 9-day fortnight?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Enter the nine-day fortnight. The nine-day fortnight working pattern effectively means that across 14 calendar days, nine of them are working days and five are days off. The 9-day fortnight in practiceMany of the benefits are similar to those of the four-day week, according to those who have tested it. Ben Branson-Gateley, CEO and co-founder of human resources software firm Charlie HR which also follows a nine-day fortnight, says he has noticed additional benefits compared to the four-day week. Both Branson-Gateley and Franklin have seen their employees change the way they approach work as a consequence of the nine-day fortnight.

☆ Investing in Space: Don't panic
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. Virgin Orbit's headquarters and factory are near multiple rocket and space companies, with several growing fast nearby in "Space Beach" (an industry nickname for Long Beach, California). The fight for talent remains very competitive, which should give Virgin Orbit folks reassurance in the face of an uncertain future. Granted, the SVB situation is putting other banks under pressure and could spur caution around startup fundraising. And don't forget, multiple space companies, large and small, are backed by a lone wealthy individual with huge equity ownership.

☆ Virgin Orbit furloughs almost all employees, pauses ops for a week - CNBC
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit (VORB.O) is furloughing nearly all its employees and pausing operations for a week as it looks for funding, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The satellite launch firm's executives briefed employees on the situation in an all-hands meeting earlier in the day and told them that the company aimed to provide an update on the furlough and funding situation by next week, according to the report. Virgin Orbit did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Shares of the company dropped 8.9% to 92 cents in extended trading. Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Virgin Orbit pauses operations for a week, furloughs nearly entire staff as it seeks funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Virgin Orbit is furloughing nearly all its employees and pausing operations for a week as it looks for a funding lifeline, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Virgin Orbit is also moving up payroll by a week to Friday. Virgin Orbit did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment. Shares of Virgin Orbit fell 11% in after-hours trading from its close at $1.01 a share. When Virgin Orbit reported third quarter results in early November, it disclosed cash on hand of $71.2 million at the end of the quarter.

☆ Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit rocket company ceases operations for a week, seeks additional funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Virgin Orbit told nearly all of its staff to cease operations until at least next week as the rocket company, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, works to secure additional funding. Though no deal for additional funding has been solidified, the source said the company is in “talks” to secure additional money. Virgin Orbit was founded in 2017 after spinning off from its sister company, Virgin Galactic, which is focused on using supersonic planes to vault high-paying tourists on joy rides to the edge of space. Virgin Orbit, on the other hand, has been developing an air-launched rocket for hauling small satellites to orbit, dubbed LauncherOne. Virgin Orbit announced it was going public — via a reverse merger agreement called a SPAC — in the fall of 2021.

☆ Branson's Virgin Orbit to pause ops, furlough nearly all employees - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit (VORB.O) on Wednesday said it was pausing all operations from March 16 and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the satellite launch company was also furloughing nearly all of its employees. Chief Executive Dan Hart told staff in a meeting that the furlough was intended to buy Virgin Orbit time to finalize a new investment plan to help pull the company out of its financial woes, according to the source, who attended the meeting. The duration of the furlough was unclear, but Hart said he would provide employees an update by the middle of next week on when they could return, the source said. In a statement to Reuters, the company confirmed the operational pause but it did not give details on the furloughs. Last month, Virgin Orbit said it was investigating the failure of its mission in January to deploy nine small satellites into lower Earth orbit (LEO) from the coastal town of Newquay in southwest England.

☆ Virgin Galactic finishes lengthy spacecraft upgrades, plans Q2 commercial service
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Joe SkipperWASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (SPCE.N) has completed a lengthy upgrade period for its centerpiece tourist spacecraft, with commercial service on track to begin in the second quarter of 2023, the company said on Tuesday. This month, VSS Unity's twin-fuselage carrier plane VMS Eve made its first flight since 2021. Virgin Galactic is targeting monthly commercial missions after the Italian Air Force flight, a long-awaited cadence to handle the company's some 800 customers in line to fly. The company in February re-opened ticket sales to the public for spacecraft flights, setting prices at $450,000 per person with an initial deposit of $150,000. Each flight in space, over 50 miles (80 km) above ground, lasts roughly 10 minutes in microgravity, with VSS Unity launching mid-air from the center of its VMS Eve carrier plane.

☆ Richard Branson's Virgin Hotels opened its newest location in New York City with rooms starting at almost $600 — see inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Brittany Chang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The hotel, which is on Broadway, is still wrapping up final construction projects and ironing out kinks ahead of its grand opening in the spring. Brittany Chang/Insider

☆ Converting empty office buildings into apartments sounds like a no-brainer, but big landlords are resisting for one big reason
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Three experts tell Insider office prices need to fall before conversions are commonplace. But for these plans to be successful, the world of real estate must address the elephant in the room: Office buildings are simply too expensive. Moody's laid out some basic math: In 2021, the average New York apartment building traded at $434 a square foot. Now in the US, he's up to the same business but not yet with the vacant office buildings that dot the downtowns of large metropolises. Among them is an older, 130,000-square-foot St. Louis office building, which represents some of the city's most outdated stock, Rubin told Insider.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's MMA fighting and Bill Gates' pickleball: 20 tech billionaires and executives and the sports they play
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Billionaire Richard Branson is known for being something of a daredevil. Branson has broken multiple Guinness World Records, including being the first man to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in a hot-air balloon. "It's important to have fun in life and not take yourself too seriously," he told Insider in a 2016 interview. Most recently, Branson traveled to space on a Virgin Galactic rocket. Sources: Insider, Guinness World Records, Insider

☆ 20 tech founders and billionaires that like to play sports — from Bill Gates's love for pickleball to Jeff Bezo's days-long horseback rides
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Boeing delivers last 747, saying goodbye to 'Queen of the Skies'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Valerie Insinna | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"It's the airplane that redefined the industry and redefined air travel," said Guy Norris, co-author of "Boeing 747: Design and Development Since 1969." British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, who was inspired to start an airline with a single Boeing 747 after getting stuck on a delayed flight, earlier on Tuesday called it a "wonderful beast" as he bid farewell. When Boeing confirmed in July 2020 that it would end 747 production, it was already only producing at a rate of half an aircraft a month. Smith said all 747 program workers were transferred to other jobs or voluntarily retired. Boeing will remain tied to the 747 through the aftermarket business and the Air Force One replacement program, which Boeing won in 2018.

☆ 'Farewell to a wonderful beast': Branson's homage to Boeing 747
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A rocket containing a payload of small satellites sits under the wing of "Cosmic Girl", a converted Boeing 747, at Cornwall Spaceport in Newquay, Britain, January 3, 2023 ahead of the first orbital launch from western Europe being planned by Virgin Orbit. REUTERS/Tim HepherPARIS, Jan 31 (Reuters) - British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, who was inspired to start an airline with a single Boeing 747 after getting stuck on a delayed flight, paid tribute to the Queen of the Skies on Tuesday as Boeing delivered its final jumbo jet. "It gave America and Boeing the leadership role in aviation," said Branson, the son of a flight attendant who founded Virgin Atlantic in 1984 after cold-calling Boeing as a successful record publisher to ask about a second-hand 747. Branson's latest aerospace venture, Virgin Orbit, aims to launch satellites from a rocket released from under the wing of a 747 dubbed Cosmic Girl, formerly part of the same airline. "So farewell to a wonderful beast."

☆ Billionaire Richard Branson calls the Boeing 747 a 'wonderful beast' after the last jumbo jet is delivered but says it was 'too expensive'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Richard Branson described the 747 as a "wonderful beast" as Boeing stopped production of the jets. Branson told Reuters the 747's daily fuel costs across the Atlantic became too expensive. Thousands of people gathered on Tuesday to celebrate Boeing delivering its final 747. "So farewell to a wonderful beast," Branson told Reuters. Insider attended the UK's first orbital space launch carried out by Virgin Orbit at Spaceport Cornwall.

☆ Spaceport boss says it's challenging being a successful woman in the space industry as some people exclude her from conversations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Melissa Thorpe, a Spaceport boss, spoke about the criticism she gets as a woman in the space sector. The space industry is male-dominated, but Thorpe said she's questioning how things are done. Thorpe said she didn't get into the space industry in the traditional way. One out of 5 space industry workers are womenThorpe's seven-day job not only involves running the spaceport, but also going to conferences, traveling, and meeting with clients in different time zones. The United Nations reported in October 2021 that around one in five workers in the space industry are women.

☆ Ketamine is being sold as a depression wonder drug. For some, it's making everything worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +42 min

The infusions at the ketamine clinic in his West Texas hometown were a Christmas gift from his grandmother. About five years ago, more and more of my friends started using ketamine recreationally. IV ketamine treatment centers charging $400 to $2,000 an infusion popped up all over the country. "Ketamine used as directed in an appropriate clinical setting very rarely leads to any dependence," Mindbloom says on its website. Like Nadia, most of the people I interviewed said when they started using ketamine, they didn't think it was possible to become dependent on it.

☆ MoviePass CEO Stacy Spikes on his plans to relaunch the service (for real) and bring back an unlimited option
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Stacy Spikes told Insider he plans to put MoviePass out of beta and make it available for all by the summer. You would think Spikes would want to run as far away as possible from the movie-ticket-subscription startup. Before Stacy Spikes created MoviePass he created the Urbanworld Film Festival. I wanted to put that down because I see so many times people approach me and think MoviePass was my first business. MoviePassThe MoviePass beta version is focused on the credits system, e-ticketing, and fixing bugsWhat have been the biggest challenges in getting this beta version of MoviePass off the ground?

☆ Robert De Niro was almost my 50-50 partner in MoviePass — and he showed me the 'Raging Bull' boxing ring to try to seal the deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Stacy Spikes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

One night, I said to Marianne, "What if we made a Netflix for the movie theater industry? I tried to push my subscription idea, but it fell flat. I continued to tread water on my subscription idea, but things were slow going. One Saturday, a dear friend of ours named Peter called and asked how the movie subscription idea was coming. They're interested in buying both the Urbanworld Film Festival and the movie subscription company for one million dollars.

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