On the eve of a major event for the company he founded, the billionaire Richard Branson What happened was Elon MuskIt's a strange but true story that connects two important figures in the space field.
what happened: In July 2021, Richard Branson will go into space at the age of 71. Virgin Galactic spacea company he co-founded. The flight was led by fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos There will be a competition between space companies to enter space.
The night before the spaceflight, Branson was suddenly awakened at 2:30 a.m. local time in his New Mexico home by Musk standing barefoot in the kitchen after a member of Branson's family allowed Musk into the house.
“Elon was determined to surprise us,” Branson told The Sunday Times. “He was there with his baby. He's basically a nocturnal animal.”
Musk came to congratulate Branson in person ahead of his spaceflight.
“I woke up two hours earlier than I should have and jumped out of bed, only to realize I'd actually gotten the time wrong, but I was already awake by then.”
Branson's new story says he spent the evening with Musk having tea “under the stars.”
“He doesn't sleep much at night, he sleeps during the day. We made some tea and sat outside under the stars catching up.”
Musk also visited a spaceport in New Mexico and watched Branson launch into space aboard a Virgin Galactic spacecraft.
Musk and Branson first met at the Google co-founder's wedding. Larry Page, The event took place on Branson's privately owned Necker Island.
This isn't the first time Branson and Musk have had a surprise meeting: Branson also recalled being skiing with his family in Switzerland in 2008 when Musk suddenly showed up in a Tesla sports car.
“Elon just built the first car, sent it over and drove it over to show us. We went for a drive in it and it was really comfortable and nice.”
Branson reportedly suspected Musk was looking for an investment opportunity. Tesla TSLA Branson said at the time that it was “pretty minimal.”
“Elon is incredibly smart and incredibly driven. He's come close to failing many times, but he keeps going. He's the Henry Ford of his generation.”
Related article: Richard Branson chats with Elon Musk ahead of historic space flight
Why is this important: For many years, the Space Race has been a hot topic. For decades, it has been a battle between the United States and Russia to be the first to fly in space and land on the moon.
Decades later, Virgin Galactic Blue OriginThe company founded by Bezos, the Amazon founder, has also competed with Musk's own SpaceX for years, including in a number of lawsuits involving NASA.
Branson reached space nine days before Bezos, but the encouragement he received from Musk amid the competitive nature of the space enterprise may speak to their friendship.
As Benzinga previously reported, Musk has booked a space flight with Virgin Galactic. Other notable names on Virgin Galactic's booking records include: Leonardo DiCaprio, Angelina Jolie and Justin Bieber.
Branson joked that Virgin Galactic's flights require Musk to undergo astronaut training and that the Twitter takeover might delay the flight.
“It would be great to have him join us, but obviously he's busy right now,” Branson said.
For Branson and Musk, their space companies have taken different paths over the past five years. Musk's SpaceX was recently valued at a reported $210 billion and has skyrocketed in value over the past few years. Branson's Virgin Galactic has struggled, with its stock price falling 96% over the past five years, as seen in the chart below from Benzinga Pro.
Branson has also said he would like to one day fly into even greater space aboard Musk's SpaceX spacecraft.
Virgin Galactic's spaceflight tickets currently sell for $450,000, and the company has carried more than 60 passengers and crew into space aboard its spacecraft.
Branson has also booked Virgin Galactic spaceflights for his 80th, 90th, and 100th birthdays.
“I'll probably book it for my 110th birthday too, because I'm always an optimist. I'll hopefully have my kids and grandkids along for at least one of the trips.”
You might be wondering what the perks are to being friends with Branson, or visiting his house in the middle of the night for tea under the stars.
“We don't discount space, and neither does Elon.”
This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.
Photo: Shutterstock
