It was always said when Branson was pulled out of the water after the failed Atlantic Challenger effort that there was one crew member missing, and that was Chay Blyth’s dog , to bite the grinning pullover if he touched anything. So it may have been a bonus that he didn’t actually touch anything during the “flight”. As for profligate wastes of money, ask Don Cameron of Cameron balloons how out of pocket he was, and remains, after the other stunt that RB was involved with.