Virgin Orbit’s US$200mil rescue mission falls flat

NEW YORK: As the fortunes of Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit were crashing to earth last month, a little-known investor called Matthew Brown appeared and offered a US$200mil (RM880mil) rescue.

Within two days of being contacted by Brown, Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart had secured board backing for a preliminary agreement with the 33-year-old Texas-based investor, according to related documents and email exchanges reviewed by Reuters and three people with knowledge of the discussions.