British billionaire Richard Branson (pictured) is facing accusations from shareholders concerning the covering up of issues at Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc.'s spacecraft program and the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock at inflated prices, United States District Judge Allyne Ross said on Monday.
Shareholders can enforce lawsuits over statements made in July 2019 that Virgin had made "great progress" in overcoming commercial spaceflight "hurdles" despite a test flight five months prior when its Unity rocket plane suffered critical damage.
In addition to the above, Branson must also defend his July 2021 declaration that his flight, in which he flew 50 miles above the earth, had been "flawless," even though Unity had deviated from its assigned airspace.
