Media mogul Richard Branson will leave his role as chairman of an experimental travel company with a test site near North Las Vegas.
Branson announced his departure from the Virgin Hyperloop One board in a statement Monday, saying he’s too busy to chair it.
In an emailed statement, Virgin Hyperloop One confirmed Branson will step down from the board, saying the company needs a more hands-on chairman at this stage in its development.
“We are establishing who the new Chairman will be,” according to the statement. “We thank Richard for his leadership and vision as Chairman. We are continuing to work in partnership with the Virgin Group to advance our first projects globally.”
Replacing him on the board is Patrick McCall, a Virgin senior executive and chairman of Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit and Virgin Rail Group.
Branson announced his investment in Virgin Hyperloop One in October 2017, prompting the company to add “Virgin” to its name.
Branson, who in the spring became a face of the new Hard Rock Hotel ownership group, said in Monday’s statement he joined Virgin Hyperloop One to stabilize it and grow it internationally.
After further investment from port operator DP World, he is changing his role to brand development and international expansion for the company, according to the statement.
This is the second controversy this year for Virgin Hyperloop One’s board.
In the spring, Russia arrested Virgin Hyperloop One investor and board member Ziyavudin Magomedov and accused him of embezzling $44 million from infrastructure contracts.
Branson is still listed as chairman of the board on the Virgin Hyperloop One website. The site no longer lists Magomedov as a board member, but it does list a director of Magomedov’s Caspian Venture Capital company as a board member.
In April, a Virgin Hyperloop One spokeswoman said the arrest did not influence a group of board members to leave.
The hyperloop mode of transit, designed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has the potential to send cargo from Las Vegas to Los Angeles in about 30 minutes using a pod magnetically levitated and electrically accelerated. In March 2016, Nevada approved $9.2 million of tax incentives for Hyperloop One, based in Los Angeles, for the local test track.
