Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. announced that, effective immediately, Chamath Palihapitiya will step down as chairman and as a member of its Board of Directors to focus on other public company board commitments. As part of the announcement, the Board appointed Director Evan Lovell as Interim Chairman until a new chair is in place. Lovell has served on Virgin Galactic's Board since 2017 and is the Chief Investment Officer of the Virgin Group.

He is a seasoned private equity investor and operator, having invested and participated in global private equity and M&A over the past 20 years, working previously at TPG Capital and Culligan International. Palihapitiya joined Virgin Galactic's board as its first Chairman when the Company went public in 2019.