Richard Branson's space jaunt worth $841 million for Virgin Galactic

Richard Branson’s rocket-powered flight more than 50 miles above Earth is taking investors in his space-tourism company to new heights.

Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. jumped as much as 22% in premarket U.S. trading on Monday, just above an all-time peak reached in February. They were up 7.1% as of 5:25 a.m. in New York, adding about $841 million to the Las Cruces, New Mexico-based company’s market value.

The 70-year-old billionaire and five employees completed a long-awaited test flight to space on Sunday, reaching an altitude of more than 50 miles during the hour-long journey. The success of the