The Richard Branson-founded space- tourism firm’s stock rose to a market capitalization of US$2.4 billion on the public markets after a direct listing after a merger with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings. It will start operating commercial space flights in 2020 at US$250,000 a seat. (CNBC, Financial Times)

Talking point: Social Capital’s US$100-million deal for 49 per cent of Virgin Galactic represents a big bet by Chamath Palihapitiya, a Canadian venture capitalist and former early Facebook employee. In September 2018, he announced that Social Capital would stop taking outside money, and instead act as a “technology holding company” backing companies working on “hard problems” for “decades if that is what it takes.” (The change came after high-profile executive departures.) Space exploration of the type Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are pursuing is that kind of expensive, long-term challenge, but Palihapitiya sees a faster return with Virgin Galactic. The company aims to be profitable by 2021, and he has said its margins are comparable to those of a software company.