When Richard Branson threw his weight behind Hyperloop One in 2017, the world took notice. The billionaire’s Virgin Group invested in the transportation startup, which promises to zip passengers and cargo between cities at aviation speeds via tubes. Later, Branson even became chairman of Virgin Hyperloop, as it was rebranded for a time.
“The reason I became chairman of this company, I found it ridiculously interesting,” Branson told On CNBC 2018. “I think if we can build Virgin Hyperloops in many different countries, connecting countries, it will bring the world a lot closer.”
“When you’re talking about pods going 6, 7,800 miles per hour with people and stuff, that’s pretty exciting.” added.
Josh Gegel, a Hyperloop cofounder and then CTO, later pushed about “The kind of credibility” that Branson and company provided, he called “a sign that we’re doing something right.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wasn’t involved with the company, but a year before it was founded in 2014, he envisioned the Hyperloop, urging entrepreneurs to make it a reality. According to His biographer Ashley Vance believes the idea stemmed from Musk’s “disgust with California’s proposed high-speed rail system”.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced billions in funding. “Part of $8.2 billion in new funding for 10 major commuter rail projects across the country,” for high-speed rail projects in the Golden State.
This week, Bloomberg reported that Hyperloop One — which has raised more than $450 million since 2014 — is shutting down.
There were signs of trouble. Last year, the project, which never won a contract to build a Hyperloop, decided to focus on cargo rather than passengers, and Virgin pulled its name.
Most of the company’s employees, of which there were more than 200 last year, have been laid off, and its Los Angeles office has been closed.
Branson said of Virgin’s investment in 2017: “After visiting Hyperloop One’s test site in Nevada and meeting with its leadership team this past summer, I am confident that this cutting-edge technology will transfer will change pregnancy as we know it and dramatically reduce travel times.”
They assured CNBC viewers said the following year that actual working hyperloops were closer to reality. “We’re talking two to three years away, not many years away,” he said.
Now the company is trying to sell off various assets, and its remaining workers have been told their jobs are ending on December 31.
Credit : fortune.com
