Virgin Galactic falls after chairman sells

Virgin Galactic Holdings tumbled Friday after its billionaire chairman, Chamath Palihapitiya, offloaded shares worth about $213 million in the spacetourism company founded by Richard Branson.

Palihapitiya, the investor who has helped drive the frenzied growth of blank-check companies, disposed of 6.2 million shares at an average price of $34.32 this week, based on a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He still owns 15.8 million shares with partner Ian Osborne through investment firm Social Capital Hedosophia, amounting to a stake of about 6.5 percent. Palihapitiya previously sold shares worth almost $100 million in December, filings show.

Palihapitiya said he sold the shares to fund an investment to help fight climate change.