Daily Diary

Virgin’s in-house galactico

Posted 21/05/2007 by The Daily Diary

Regular readers of this column will recall how NASA general counsel Mike Wholley is currently in the headlines over some alleged ‘strategic’ shredding. Now The Diary can bring you news of another stellar in-house role, this time a little closer to home (for now).

The newest and wackiest venture from bearded Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson is, of course, Virgin Galactic – ‘the world’s first spaceline’, it says here – and, needless to say, the operation has an in-house lawyer.

Tasks involve conference calls with NASA, negotiating IP rights with various eggheads  – work that actually is rocket science, for all you private practice snobs out there – and (presumably) drafting disclaimers saying Virgin is not responsible if your flying visit to the Alpha Centauri branch of Little Chef goes the way of Apollo 13.

Who said going in-house was dull?

One GC gets closer to a seat on the board than ever