Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, owner of U.K’s Manchester City Football Club who just scored $2.47 Billion Dollars investing in Barclays shares during the banking crisis, has decided to take up a little space travel by purchasing 32% of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic for $280 Million.

The deal, believed to be a result of a growing friendship between the Sheikh and Branson, is being made through the Sheikh’s personal investment instrument Aabar Investments.

As part of the bargain, Aabar will gain exclusive local rights to host Virgin Galactic tourism and research flights in it’s up and coming “spaceport” in Abu Dhabi.

Aabar also plans to invest $100 Million in satellite launches.

Virgin has already invested more than $100 Million into Virgin Galactic since its birth in 2004 and plans to begin testing it’s space tourism vehicle SpaceShipTwo, later on in the year.

300 people have already put down a $40 Million deposit on a seat, including physicist Stephen Hawking and Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello.

“We are delighted to partner with Aabar in a strategic deal that is a first for Virgin Galactic. The initiative will leverage the solid financial backing of Aabar and the pioneering technology and strong global relationships of Virgin Galactic.” – Sir Richard.

As part of a larger plan to diverify away from oil the Sheikh has also invested heavily in Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz and Tesla, a electric car manufacturer.

Hey look, I don’t care what anybody says…you don’t get more Mogul than a Sheik with your own spaceship.

Spaceship trumps Bentley, Aston Martin and Bugatti any day of the week...just ask Cirque Du Soleil’s Guy Laliberte.

Sources

• The Luxist
• The Telegraph

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