The major space race is currently run by private corporations and that is why news about space flights goes hand in hand with stock news. The recent successful flight by Jeff Bezos, the richest person in the world and a founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, brought down the share price of Virgin Galactic being one of its rivals.
Shares in Virgin Galactic, which belongs to British billionaire Richard Branson, have fallen in price by almost 8%, which means that Branson himself, one of the major shareholders, has become poorer by a significant amount. However, this unfortunate happening still allowed him to remain on the list of the 500 richest people in the world at 414th place, and Bezos' success pleased him.
“Impressive! Very best to all the crew from me and all the team at Virgin Galactic”, Branson posted on Twitter.
That is how Bezos’ space success exerts an adverse effect on his competitors. Notably, Virgin Galactic shares were falling in value even after Branson’s flight into space on July 11. For example, the very next day they lost more than 10% in value, even though the price reached an intraday high of $50 apiece that day and declined in the following days.
