[Thork]

This is aimed at thork,

"For Branson—a typically rabid enthusiast about Virgin Galactic—to even insinuate, by his lack of strenuous affirmation otherwise, that the future of the program may indeed be in jeopardy after just one crash, albeit a fatal one, suggests strongly that he already knows what the final decision will be. Virgin claims it has taken more than 800 payments for suborbital tourist flights, at $200,000 each. This might sound like an extraordinary haul, but at $160 million, it represents barely one-third of what Branson has already reportedly invested in the program. The company can't access that passenger money, however, until it starts actually flying people into space."

Pay particular attention to the last 2 sentences and try and reconcile you rabid and baseless assertions that this is a monetary scam.

http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/whats-next-virgin-galactic?page=0%2C2

No, Branson has not invested half a billion dollars of his own money in this program.

Aabar bought a 31.8 percent stake in Virgin Galactic in 2010 and raised that to 37.8 percent in 2011, according to Aabar's website. United Arab Emirates media have reported the investment totalled nearly $400 million, and have quoted Branson as saying he aimed eventually to open a spaceport in Abu Dhabi.
So far, Virgin Galactic has spent about $500 million developing its spaceship.

He's been robbing Peter to pay Paul. Add in the deposits to that stake and Branson hasn't spent a penny.

[Rama Set]

This is aimed at thork,

"For Branson—a typically rabid enthusiast about Virgin Galactic—to even insinuate, by his lack of strenuous affirmation otherwise, that the future of the program may indeed be in jeopardy after just one crash, albeit a fatal one, suggests strongly that he already knows what the final decision will be. Virgin claims it has taken more than 800 payments for suborbital tourist flights, at $200,000 each. This might sound like an extraordinary haul, but at $160 million, it represents barely one-third of what Branson has already reportedly invested in the program. The company can't access that passenger money, however, until it starts actually flying people into space."

Pay particular attention to the last 2 sentences and try and reconcile you rabid and baseless assertions that this is a monetary scam.

http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/whats-next-virgin-galactic?page=0%2C2

No, Branson has not invested half a billion dollars of his own money in this program.

Aabar bought a 31.8 percent stake in Virgin Galactic in 2010 and raised that to 37.8 percent in 2011, according to Aabar's website. United Arab Emirates media have reported the investment totalled nearly $400 million, and have quoted Branson as saying he aimed eventually to open a spaceport in Abu Dhabi.
So far, Virgin Galactic has spent about $500 million developing its spaceship.

He's been robbing Peter to pay Paul. Add in the deposits to that stake and Branson hasn't spent a penny.

Just because he recouped a portion of the money in 2010 does not mean Branson has not invested any funds; the $500M figure seems appropriate based on the quote you provided.  It is possible that that $400M investment by Aabar did not go back to Branson as well, but instead became capital to begin other infrastructure programs. 

To be clear, I am not saying it has gone to infrastructure, but you have a tendency to inaccurately vilify VG despite their numerous blunders.

[Pythagoras]

Did you miss the second sentence then thork?

And where is the evidence Branson  did not invest his own money in the venture?

[Thork]

Did you miss the second sentence then thork?

And where is the evidence Branson  did not invest his own money in the venture?

How about you give me some evidence that he did. I already accounted for all of the money. Its much easier to prove a positive. Blow me away. show me how much of Branson's personal fortune went into that space hoax.

[Rama Set]

Did you miss the second sentence then thork?

And where is the evidence Branson  did not invest his own money in the venture?

How about you give me some evidence that he did. I already accounted for all of the money. Its much easier to prove a positive. Blow me away. show me how much of Branson's personal fortune went into that space hoax.

VG has invested $100M so far,$380M by Aabar, $200M by the New Mexico government and $160M from deposits.  So Branson's company has invested the least amount of money.  If, and I think it is a big if, Branson is fleecing people, he would be making good money, but considering that the deposit money is due back upon request and it is unlikely that the NM government or Aabar would have invested this money without a buyout clause, it will be very difficult for Branson to appropriate these funds.  The Virgin Group is not going anywhere, and can afford to pay back this money.

[garygreen]

Genuine question: how does Branson's scam work?  Is it that he's stealing the money from his customers or his investors?  Both?  Other?

[Hoppy]

Genuine question: how does Branson's scam work?  Is it that he's stealing the money from his customers or his investors?  Both?  Other?

He is scamming you into believing in space flight.

[Pythagoras]

I'm No expert in US consumer law but I'd imagen thst deposits are held in a bank account that can't be accessed by virgin Galactic. Any experts out their know a bit more about US consumer law? You see thork unlike you and many other fers, I don't proclaim to be an expert in fields I am not.

[Gulliver]

I'm No expert in US consumer law but I'd imagen thst deposits are held in a bank account that can't be accessed by virgin Galactic. Any experts out their know a bit more about US consumer law? You see thork unlike you and many other fers, I don't proclaim to be an expert in fields I am not.

Well, sort of...

The $50 million+ is currently in escrow. See: http://www.kacstaerospace.org/2012/en/images/speakers/pdf/13-whitesides.pdf .

But the T&Cs don't require escrow. See: www.transterrestrial.com/archives/Virgin-Galactic-T-and-Cs.doc .

[yoocantseeme1]

Can Richard Branson just stop trying to create new companies. Only a couple of the ones he has created have been successful, this one will be another flop. Anyway, Im pretty sure he has got enough money. Please just do us a favor and stop