Chamath Palihapitiya's Spac took Virgin Galactic public through a merger in October 2019. Photo / Getty Images
Chamath Palihapitiya, a central figure in a pandemic-era boom for blank cheque companies, has quit as chair of the board at Virgin Galactic, the space travel group founded by Richard Branson whose shares have plummeted
more than 80 per cent over the past year.
Palihapitiya's special purpose acquisition company, Social Capital Hedosophia, took Virgin Galactic public through a merger at a $2.3bn valuation in October 2019.
Special purpose acquisition companies are shell companies that raise money by listing on the stock market and then seek a merger with a target company, providing them with a quick route to go public.
Bankers say the Virgin Galactic deal stoked new interest in the Spac market. Palihapitiya raised more than a half dozen Spac vehicles, taking several companies, including SoFi Technologies, healthcare insurer Clover Health Investments, fintech start-up Social Finance and real estate tech group Opendoor, public.
Many of these stocks, led by Clover, have fallen sharply over the past year, and interest in new Spac deals has faded.