Virgin Galactic Chairman Says Nobody Cares About Genocide of Uyghurs in China

Palihapitiya received considerable blowback on social media after video of his comments went viral on Twitter, but the billionaire’s response was something very short of an apology.

Writing that, “Important issues deserve nuanced discussions,” Palihapitiya tweeted on Monday that he wanted to provide some, “clarifying comments.”

In re-listening to this week’s podcast, I recognize that I come across as lacking empathy. I acknowledge that entirely. As a refugee, my family fled a country with its own set of human rights issues so this is something that is very much a part of my lived experience. To be clear, my belief is that human rights matter, whether in China, the United States, or elsewhere. Full stop.

Palihapitiya’s family left Sri Lanka and settled in Canada when he was five years old and he moved to the U.S. after college. But, again, his clarifying statement basically, “sorry if you got offended.”

The U.S. government has sanctioned many Chinese companies with ties to Xinjiang over human rights abuses, including drone maker DJI, which has been added to several blacklists over its alleged involvement in surveillance of Uyghurs.

The Warriors released a statement on Monday distancing themselves from Palihapitiya and his callousness.

“As a limited investor who has no day-to-day operating functions with the Warriors, Mr. Palihapitiya does not speak on behalf of our franchise, and his views certainly don’t reflect those of our organization,” the NBA team’s PR division said in a tweet.

Virgin Galactic did not release a statement about Palihapitiya’s comments and did not respond to a request for comment early Tuesday. While Palihapitiya is still the chairman of the company, he actually sold his entire personal stake in the company in March of last year, totaling roughly $211 million in stock. The billionaire said it was for liquidity reasons.

Virgin Galactic’s stock is down roughly 68% since this time last year, though there have been no allegations of insider trading or claims that Palihapitiya did anything improper. We’re sure he’s just a wise investor who plays by the rules.