Virgin's Branson halts talks on $1 billion Saudi investment in space ventures

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Virgin's Branson halts talks on $1 billion Saudi investment in space ventures

 

Richard Branson listens to speeches as he is inducted into the Flight Path Walk of Fame at Los Angeles Airport Flight Path Museum, highlighting his accomplishments in aviation and aerospace in Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake

 

(Reuters) - British billionaire Richard Branson said on Thursday that his Virgin Group would suspend its discussions with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund over a planned $1 billion investment in the group's space ventures, in light of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

 

"What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi government," Branson said in a statement.

 

Branson also said he would suspend his directorship in two Saudi tourism projects around the Red Sea, citing Khashoggi's disappearance. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Pressure has mounted on Saudi Arabia since Oct. 2 when Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi policies and a Washington Post journalist, went missing. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

 

Last year, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund said it planned to invest about $1 billion in Branson's space company, Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Company and Virgin Orbit.

 

Branson said on Thursday, "We have asked for more information from the authorities in Saudi and to clarify their position in relation to Mr. Khashoggi."

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States has investigators overseas to assist Turkey in its investigation of the journalist's disappearance and that they were also working with Saudi Arabia.

 

(Reporting by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-12

[stevenl]

Excellent decision, hope they stick to their principles.

[Guest]

Well done. It's the real men and women who keep the dictators getting further power. 

 

Whimps think only about money and themselves. 

[Snow Leopard]

Better to keep quiet in my opinion until the facts come out. Turkey are no angels either with regards to Human Rights and they both hate one another right now over Turkey's support of Qatar. So who really knows what happened. 

[Carib]

Branson got more balls than Trump has. Trump sticks to arms deliveries whatever happened.

[bendejo]

Saudis in space?

In which direction should they pray?

 

My opinion of Branson has gone up a notch.

On the other hand maybe he was looking for a way to push them out of the deal, then this happened.....

 

 

[anterian]

Branson has never let altruism get in the way of a deal. Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia have no understanding of human rights and also hate each other. Basically in the Moslem nations truth is a very flexible commodity because you cannot ask questions in a dictatorship. 

[natway09]

Richard has just woken up in time ( I hope)

[malibukid]

alway's liked Richard

[Small Joke]

8 hours ago, Snow Leopard said:

Better to keep quiet in my opinion until the facts come out. Turkey are no angels either with regards to Human Rights and they both hate one another right now over Turkey's support of Qatar. So who really knows what happened. 

There's CCTV, with sound, of what happened. That the Turks took as part of their standard spy surveillance.

I dont like Erdogan, but, I'd fight the bronze-age Saudis to obliteration, alongside the Turks, if it came to it.

[SammyT]

The whole diplomatic immunity and sanctity of embassies should only stretch so far. In cases like this, they should just be kicking the door in and saying "our country, our rules". If the Saudis don't like it, they can surely take their embassy elsewhere. When it's being used as a murder scene, the rules shouldn't apply anymore. 

[ballpoint]

I guess the Saudis will have to look elsewhere for their 72 virgins.

[farcanell]

10 hours ago, Snow Leopard said:

Better to keep quiet in my opinion until the facts come out. Turkey are no angels either with regards to Human Rights and they both hate one another right now over Turkey's support of Qatar. So who really knows what happened. 

No!

 

better to halt talks, until the truth is known, as any potential sanctions against Saudi, in retaliation for a high profile state sponsored extra judicial murder, will impact on everyone with money in Saudi (and vice versa)

 

this is self evident in trumps reimposition of sanctions on Iran. To ignore this is tantamount to deligency towards other investors and shareholders.

 

from a business position, this is an understandable and correct decision.... and not altruism (imo)

 

trump may not try to impose sanctions on his golden gooselike mates, but other nations, including GB, may.... which will be interesting, if the US continues forward, ignoring sanctions by UN states, whilst unilaterally imposing sanctions on saudis regional rivals (enemies), and similaneously threatening other sovereign nations who may not wish to follow his “lead”

[Tug]

Hey Richard could you come run the USA for about 2 yrs we could use some one with a moral compass lol kudos sir Branson 

[spidermike007]

I applaud Branson for his moral conviction. This is a man who does not need to jump into bed with worms and terrorists.

 

Trump was actually more honest when he said "they buy my $50,000,000 condos, and they buy alot of weapons, so I really, really like them". This is a man so completely devoid of ethics, character, morality and any sort of barometer that indicates to him the difference between right and wrong. He has been thieving and stealing for so long, he no longer has the ability to discern what the difference is.

 

The Saudis have long been enemy number one for planet earth. Their continued support of the heinous brand of Islam called Wahhabism, makes them a terrorist nation, and the world's top sponsor of terror. Prince Salman has amply demonstrated his complete unwillingness to adhere to world norms, and bring his nation into the 21st century. He is a mule salesman, who happened to be born into royalty. And his recent order to murder Khashoggi showed his true face to the world. I guess they expected to get away with it, when they sent their hit squads to Turkey. Not the case. You were caught red handed, you heinous fool. You are a thug, a madman, a creep, and a charlatan. And Trump loves you for those qualities. Tiny Don never met a dictator he did not like. It is the democratically elected allies that he despises. 

 

Now, much of the world is finally seeing the House of Saud for what it is. Finally. And they are going to spurn the upcoming economic conference. There is a good chance Steve Mnuchin might be the only one who shows up. That would be completely in character for him.

 

Prince Salman. Terrorizing the world and the women of his nation daily.

Donald Trump. Moving America backwards daily, and definitely not making the nation great again.

 

[Morch]

On 10/12/2018 at 7:58 AM, oilinki said:

Well done. It's the real men and women who keep the dictators getting further power. 

 

Whimps think only about money and themselves. 

 

On 10/12/2018 at 8:22 AM, Carib said:

Branson got more balls than Trump has. Trump sticks to arms deliveries whatever happened.

 

With all due respect to Branson's decision, he operates on a different level than a national leader. Not the same scope of effects and consequences. Not the same level of responsibility involved.

[Morch]

16 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I applaud Branson for his moral conviction. This is a man who does not need to jump into bed with worms and terrorists.

 

Trump was actually more honest when he said "they buy my $50,000,000 condos, and they buy alot of weapons, so I really, really like them". This is a man so completely devoid of ethics, character, morality and any sort of barometer that indicates to him the difference between right and wrong. He has been thieving and stealing for so long, he no longer has the ability to discern what the difference is.

 

The Saudis have long been enemy number one for planet earth. Their continued support of the heinous brand of Islam called Wahhabism, makes them a terrorist nation, and the world's top sponsor of terror. Prince Salman has amply demonstrated his complete unwillingness to adhere to world norms, and bring his nation into the 21st century. He is a mule salesman, who happened to be born into royalty. And his recent order to murder Khashoggi showed his true face to the world. I guess they expected to get away with it, when they sent their hit squads to Turkey. Not the case. You were caught red handed, you heinous fool. You are a thug, a madman, a creep, and a charlatan. And Trump loves you for those qualities. Tiny Don never met a dictator he did not like. It is the democratically elected allies that he despises. 

 

Now, much of the world is finally seeing the House of Saud for what it is. Finally. And they are going to spurn the upcoming economic conference. There is a good chance Steve Mnuchin might be the only one who shows up. That would be completely in character for him.

 

Prince Salman. Terrorizing the world and the women of his nation daily.

Donald Trump. Moving America backwards daily, and definitely not making the nation great again.

 

•  

 

Yet another muddled hyperbole rant.

 

The Saudis are "enemy number one for Planet Earth"? And "long been", no less? Care to put any figures on these claims or just the usual hot air thing? As for your assertions regarding SA being a state-sponsor of terrorism, well - I don't think that's quite how most Western governments define or see things.

 

If your take on SA was to the point, then you'd have a hard time explaining your preamble. Surely, you do not suggest that Branson was involved in massive ventures with the Saudis without having a clue as to the "truth"? Apparently, didn't have all that much issues "jumping into bed" with "worms and terrorists" prior to the recent incident making headlines.

 

[300sd]

Congratulations Branson.

 

You get my vote. 

[Chomper Higgot]

14 hours ago, Morch said:

 

 

With all due respect to Branson's decision, he operates on a different level than a national leader. Not the same scope of effects and consequences. Not the same level of responsibility involved.

You need to rethink that line of argument given the clear indications that like Trump is acting out of concern for his own financial and business concerns. 

 

Not so much your ‘tradable morality’ as ‘tradable and traded US foreign policy’.

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, Morch said:

 

@spidermike007

 

That the best deflection you can come up with? My "own boy"? Care to show them many supportive posts and views of Trump I made? Yeah...though so. More hot air.

 

And as for your reference - seriously? You keep pouring words over how uninformed, and untrustworthy Trump is, and yet you cite his comments as definite support? Furthermore, do you actually believe he wrote any of this?

 

I don't think that there's actually "countless evidence" such as you suggest. Not when it comes to state level sponsoring and direct funding of international terrorism. Considering the hyperbolic nature of your posts, and deflective manner of replies no reason to accept your assertions as correct.

The evidence is endless. 

 

Saudi Arabia—not Iran—is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world today and Wahhabism remains the source of most radical Islamic extremism. For years Iran has borne the unenviable title of “world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism.” However, out of the 61 groups that are designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department, the overwhelming majority are Wahhabi-inspired and Saudi-funded groups, with a focus on the West and Iran as their primary enemy. Only two are Shi’a—Hezbollah and Kataib Hezbollah, and only four have ever claimed to receive support from Iran. Nearly all of the Sunni militant groups listed receive significant support from either the Saudi government or Saudi citizens.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_58cafc26e4b00705db4da8aa/amp

 

 

 

 

 

[simple1]

2 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Actually not very. Without getting into the author's credentials, most of the details aren't new. And given author's background the limited focus of the piece vs. the wider general premise is rather expected. The interesting bit comes at the end, almost as an afterthought - and deals with the concept of "state-sponsored-terrorism" possibly being ill-defined. Similar to another (non-original) reference in there about differentiating implicit and explicit support, or the folly of such.

OK, not interesting for you. I get the concern regards his association with Iran, but interesting for me & maybe for some others. Perhaps you may like to provide a link to an alternate analysis which in your opinion is more credible regards KSA & Islamist terrorism. 

[Morch]

4 hours ago, simple1 said:

OK, not interesting for you. I get the concern regards his association with Iran, but interesting for me & maybe for some others. Perhaps you may like to provide a link to an alternate analysis which in your opinion is more credible regards KSA & Islamist terrorism. 

 

Not interesting in the sense that there's nothing new in the details included, and that the commentary is focused on one arena, which is more related to author's personal experience (which, btw, was the relevant reference, not Iran). And seriously, it's not like this is the first or second topic in which this issue was raised, so asking to rehash the same links and same arguments seems a bit futile. All the more so when the wealth of facts involved and presentation easily lend themselves to agenda-driven or partisan interpretations. Furthermore, topic isn't even about that, really.

 

I'll commit to this, though, that the post I was replying to is still a hyperbole rant, which fails to address the complexities of the issues, in favor of a vehement presentation. My point is not (and never was) about SA being innocent or even alright on related scores. That still doesn't make the wild assertions and statements made more correct.

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

[Morch]

13 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You need to rethink that line of argument given the clear indications that like Trump is acting out of concern for his own financial and business concerns. 

 

Not so much your ‘tradable morality’ as ‘tradable and traded US foreign policy’.

 

I don't see what it has to do with the argument suggested. Businessmen operate on a different level in comparison to national leaders and governments. That Trump might be mixing the two doesn't negate the premise, but may reflect on Trump being a dodgy president.

 

Your last line regarding "my" whatever doesn't make much sense.

[Grouse]

On 10/12/2018 at 5:55 PM, ballpoint said:

I guess the Saudis will have to look elsewhere for their 72 virgins.

What?

[Morch]

 

@spidermike007

 

Reading the topic would have informed you that the same link was already posted, and already commented on. If that's the scope of the suggested "endless evidence", guess we have a different take as to what either word implies. As pointed out in a previous response, the most salient part of the article is the less developed notion: that definitions of state-sponsored-terrorism might be inadequate to address the complexity of issues, and that the implicit vs. explicit support angle could be expanded on.

 

[farcanell]

On 10/13/2018 at 5:28 PM, Morch said:

 

 

With all due respect to Branson's decision, he operates on a different level than a national leader. Not the same scope of effects and consequences. Not the same level of responsibility involved.

I’m sorry... but I have to.

 

branson does operate at a different level... a more fiscally responsible level, apparently

 

if Branson loses a trillion dollars, his shareholders will have his nuts... trumps loses a trillion, and his investors ( voter fan base) applaud him and think he should be in line for a Nobel peace prize.

 

someone in this equation is stupid.... yes, maybe it’s me, but let’s be honest, with thousands of proven lies under his belt, where is his (trumps) credibility?

 

if Branson had thousands of demonstrable lies underpinning his “empire”, would he still have shareholder confidence? I think not... ergo, as he can be deposed on a shareholder vote (per Elon muskrat?) , his ( Branson) level of transparency and honesty is higher than trumps.... it should not be... that’s crazy talk... but that seems to be 2018’s reality.

 

branson cannot get away with unilateral actions, unlike the potus, who has his left leaning senators nuts, in his right paw.

 

consequently.... an understandable decision to suspend investment negotiations with a dictatorial sovereign is appropriate... It’s perhaps short term, whilst culpability and reaction is established.... but short term, it’s responsible and appropriate and pina coladas are great... bugger maga.

[Basil B]

Do you think the Saudi's are worried.

 

Trump holdings is already knocking on the door...

[spidermike007]

9 hours ago, Basil B said:

Do you think the Saudi's are worried.

 

Trump holdings is already knocking on the door...

 

Not much to speak of. Barely a billion in real (not fabricated) net worth and $680,000,000 in debt at last count. For a guy who inherited $200 mil over 40 years ago, an indictment against his business acumen if I have even seen one. Trump is an unimpressive man on so many levels. 

[Basil B]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Not much to speak of. Barely a billion in real (not fabricated) net worth and $680,000,000 in debt at last count. For a guy who inherited $200 mil over 40 years ago, an indictment against his business acumen if I have even seen one. Trump is an unimpressive man on so many levels. 

Did I say it is his money that he would be investing??? such empires are hollow and just move money around to paper the cracks.

 

I worked for a "Multi International" listed on the NYSE so many sell offs, acquisitions, restructurings, IMHO these were smoke screens to hide the under performance of the company.