Richard Branson, founder and chairman of space tourism venture Virgin Galactic, says he is temporarily suspending his partnership with Saudi Arabia, which means the company may lose its promised $1 billion investment. The decision is directly related to questions surrounding Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing after stepping inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey on October 2nd.
Last year, the Virgin Group announced that Virgin Galactic and its spinoff companies, The Spaceship Company and Virgin Orbit, would receive an investment of $1 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The money was meant to help further the development and testing of Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane, which is meant to take tourists into space for brief periods of weightlessness, as well as Virgin Orbit’s rocket, designed to deploy from the wing of a carrier airplane. There was even talk of using the money to help further Virgin’s dream of creating point-to-point travel — the concept of using rockets to quickly carry people to different places on the Earth. In exchange, Virgin might help with the creation of a “space-centric entertainment industry” in Saudi Arabia.
“I had high hopes for the current government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and it is why I was delighted to accept two directorships in the tourism projects around the Red Sea,” Branson wrote in a blog post on Thursday.
However, tensions between the two partners have soured due to Khashoggi’s disappearance. Khashoggi, an outspoken Saudi critic and opinion writer, hasn’t been heard from since entering the Saudi Arabian consulate. It’s assumed that he was killed inside the consulate, and Turkish authorities reportedly have audio and video recordings that back up that theory, according to CNN. However, the Saudi Arabian government has staunchly denied any responsibility and claims that Khashoggi left the consulate that day.
Based on the uncertainty surrounding the incident, Branson has decided to part ways with Saudi Arabia for now. “What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi Government,” he wrote. Branson said his company has asked for more information from Saudi authorities about what happened. But until things are cleared up, discussions over the Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit investment have ceased.
In the meantime, the Virgin companies are still moving forward with their spaceflight plans. Since the end of 2016, Virgin Galactic has been testing its spaceplane, the VSS Unity, and Branson claims the vehicle will be able to reach space on an upcoming flight test in the next few weeks. Additionally, Virgin Orbit hopes to perform its first captive carry flights of its rocket, LauncherOne, during which the rocket will ride under the wing of its carrier plane for the first time but not be released. If that’s a success, then Virgin Orbit will conduct its first test launch of the rocket, deploying it and sending it to orbit.
Comments
He has integrity that the US government does not.
By TheVergeUrge on 10.13.18 2:41pm
Republicans and money go hand in hand, integrity does not.
By forcefed on 10.13.18 3:39pm
I know, right! The Obama administration never did any business with these guys! Why can’t we be like that????
Tribalism is for losers.
By TK-093 on 10.14.18 9:15am
Hell yeah! I wish I could buy you a beer or something.
By chorx on 10.14.18 8:46pm
I’m sure Branson has integrity and morals about some things as a personal dude, but don’t drink such kool-aid as it relates to his billion-dollar business. This is not a decision of moral integrity, it’s "just good business" sense.
Business and commerce – at least at this level – is never moral by any means. It is about money – in general – if you know what I mean…
By ἐλευθερία on 10.13.18 6:49pm
I have a bad feeling that journalist is dead. Branson is smart to distance himself and not take that money.
By lamar(USC) on 10.13.18 4:03pm
But not smart enough to distance himself prior as they starve the entire country of Yemen. These guys only pretend to care when this stuff actually trends in the news. If nobody was talking about it, it would be business as usual.
By TK-093 on 10.14.18 9:17am
That’s part of the reason why real journalism is so important, and it’s scary when they can just disappeared.
By Anominal on 10.14.18 3:06pm
It’s unfortunate that it’s taken years for a religious dictatorship and the world’s major exporter of extremism to be exiled, but I’m glad it’s happening.
My theory is that higher US oil production and the impending arrival of electric vehicles is allowing people to finally say what’s true.
By obtainable on 10.13.18 11:05pm
Every citizen in the world should stand up for freedom of speech. It’s the #1 Universal human right, and the way China and Russia and now Saudi Arabia trample it, you know it is important to the future of humanity. I too hoped that Saudi Arabia had taken a step into the 21st century. I must have been wrong! Branson did a great thing today!
By systemBuilder2 on 10.13.18 11:24pm
"now Saudi Arabia"
Huh? Now? They’ve been among the worst offenders for a long long time. It is nothing new. The USA government has generally turned a blind eye to it due to money.
By Intosh on 10.14.18 1:23am
So the assassination of one dude was the threshold? Not the daily Saudi bloodshed? Because between repression, human rights negligence, hotrible executions, deliberate spread of wahabism, terrorism sponsorship and the quasi yemeni genocide, there are a lot of reasons not to have any kind of relationship with the Saudi family.
By Oxenbridge on 10.14.18 12:08am
"Missing" – really?
Turkish Officials: Recordings Prove Saudi Journalist Was Killed Inside Consulate
By _LC_ on 10.14.18 5:10am
- the article
By Paul_M on 10.14.18 6:39am
The title.
By _LC_ on 10.14.18 7:50am
Articles usually come with a content (besides the title), that you’re welcome to read before accusing their author of propaganda
By Paul_M on 10.14.18 8:01am
Already my two lines appear to be out of your depth. Which part of ‘overly cautious’ (hint: the title) don’t you understand?
I didn’t specifically ‘accuse their author’ of propaganda. I merely insinuated that other titles are not even remotely as cautious here. Here we get to read articles, which boldly claim (even more so their titles) that the Russians hacked this and the Chinese did that. This is often propaganda as the sources are "shady" (caught lying repeatedly) and sometimes the accusations don’t even make much sense.
On the other hand we have this dreadful story — and they call it a ‘missing journalist’ in the title. That is almost cynical.
Was this explanation too complicated?
By _LC_ on 10.14.18 8:15am
It looks like he was killed – but at the moment, it has not been proven. A paper says it has an audio recording with screams and more on it. The recording has not been confirmed, and it hasn’t been made public.
In summary: The guy is missing. We have a pretty good idea what happened, but as of now he is missing.
And don’t forget, a only a month ago a Russian journalist staged his own death in a police sting. So wait until you have all the facts.
As for Branson, I’m guessing this is more of a last straw thing. The Saudis are not nice people, even before this.
By Mha71 on 10.14.18 8:25am
This was inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and the Turkish officials said they recorded this. It is safe to assume that they eavesdrop on foreign embassies. They seldom make this fact public, though. In other words: something ‘out of the ordinary’ must have happened. They have no reason to invent this story.
By _LC_ on 10.14.18 9:27am
True – but on the other hand, this would be the stupidest murder ever. Man walks into embassy in full public, people know he goes there and then they torture and kill him. Not very clever, is it…
At any rate, until evidence has been presented and investigated the man is missing.
By Mha71 on 10.15.18 1:35am
Can we apply the same principles to the US propaganda, please?
By _LC_ on 10.15.18 5:06am
Can we apply filters to whataboutisms?
By Stone Cold Dan Quinn on 10.15.18 8:19am
Am I the ONLY person on Earth who is also skeptical of the Turks here? SA is a sh!tshow, for sure, and certainly deserve constant pressure. But nobody in this thread has seen ANY evidence of anything. Neither has Branson. And yet we are all so damn sure? Really?
By JungleNYC on 10.14.18 8:11am
They are not the USA. If they claim that they got it on video (and audio), then it is rather safe to assume that they will show this around (although not openly, for obvious reasons).
By _LC_ on 10.14.18 8:16am
How is he so damn sure for suspending the deal now and wanting more information?
By Stone Cold Dan Quinn on 10.14.18 9:08am