Richard Branson pledges $250m to protect jobs from coronavirus
Richard Branson has pledged that his Virgin empire will invest $250m over the next few months to protect jobs from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The entrepreneur, who owns the Virgin Atlantic airline, said many of his businesses in the travel and leisure sector were in a “massive battle” to survive as flights have been grounded and the public has been urged to practice social distancing.
“Because many of our businesses are in industries like travel, leisure and wellness, they are in a massive battle to survive and save jobs”, Branson wrote in a blog. He didn’t say if the $250 million just represented salaries of furloughed staff.
“Our airlines have had to ground almost all their planes; our cruise line has had to postpone its launch; our health clubs and hotels have had to close their doors and all bookings to our holiday company have stopped”, he added.
Virgin companies employ more than 70,000 people across 35 countries.
Last month Branson insisted that his new Virgin cruise line would overcome coronavirus fears, however the outbreak has since spread rapidly across the world.
He told Reuters that the coronavirus situation is one of the most significant crisis’ of his lifetime.