Biography
Born in 1950, Richard Branson grew up in a traditional family and received his education at Stowe School, where he established a national magazine entitled Student at the age of sixteen.
He started a Student Advisory Centre at 17, aiming to help young people. At twenty years old, he founded Virgin as a mail order record retailer and a short while later, he opened a record shop in Oxford Street, London. In 1972, a recording studio was built in Oxfordshire where the first Virgin artist, Mike Oldfield, recorded "Tubular Bells", later released in 1973.
The first album of Virgin Records went on to sell more than five million copies. At the age of 27, Richard signed The Sex Pistols to the Virgin Records label after the group was turned down by every label in Great Britain.
Over the years, he signed many superstar names including Steve Winwood, Paula Abdul, Belinda Carlisle, Genesis, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, The Human League, Bryan Ferry, Culture Club, Janet Jackson, and The Rolling Stones. As is evident, Branson managed to turn the Virgin Music Group into a giant success.
In 1992, the Virgin Music Group -- record labels, music publishing and recording studios -- was sold to Thorn EMI in a $1 billion US deal.
The interests of Virgin Group have since expanded into international "Megastore" music retailing, books and software publishing, film and video editing facilities, and clubs and hotels throughout 100 companies in 15 countries.
Virgin Atlantic Airways, started in 1984, is now the second largest British long haul international airline and operates a fleet of Boeing 747 aircrafts to New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, Dallas, and Tokyo.
The airline was founded on the concept of offering competitive and high quality first class and economy services. The airline holds many major airline awards and recently earned "Airline of the Year Award" for the third consecutive year.
In 1993, the combined sales of Virgin Group Companies exceeded $1 billion US. In addition to his own business activities, Branson is a trustee of several charities, including The Healthcare Foundation, a leading healthcare charity responsible for the launch of a health education campaign named Parents Against Tobacco, aiming to limit tobacco advertisements and sponsorships in sports.
Since 1985, Richard has actively engaged in his vocations and been involved in a number of record-breaking land and air speed and distance attempts.
In 1986, his boat, "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II," rekindled the spirit of the Blue Riband by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the fastest recorded time ever.
One year later, the hot air balloon called the "Virgin Atlantic Flyer" was the first hot air balloon ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and was the largest ever flown at 2.3 million cubic feet capacity, reaching speeds in excess of 130 mph.
In 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic Canada, the furthest distance of 6,700 miles, again breaking all existing records with speeds of up to 245 mph in a balloon measuring 2.6 million cubic feet.
Richard is currently in the midst of preparations to attempt a world-record setting, round-the-world hot air balloon crossing. The trip was scheduled to commence from Marrakesh North Africa early in 1997.
Richard lives in London and Oxfordshire and is married with two children.
Sir
Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, sometimes
abbreviated as SRB for "Sir Richard
Branson" (born 18 July
1950, Shamley Green, Surrey), is an English
entrepreneur,
best known for his Virgin brand, a banner that
encompasses a variety of business organizations. The
name Virgin was chosen because a female friend
involved in setting down the initial record shop
commented that there weren't any virgins left amongst
them. It is estimated that Branson is worth over £3,065
million
according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 [1].
Sir
Richard Branson
In a recent interview Sir
Richard was asked: "did he ever let his heart rule
head." He replied: "All the time - I
think that unless you do, you're not going to be a very
good business person. The only really good reason for
doing things in business is based on what your heart
tells you, not your head."
When asked how a beginner
should invest £1,000, he said: "My own opinion is
to put it into an Index tracking fund and forget about
it - or start a business if you have a good
idea." Now, that's an idea!
At the age of 99, Sir
Richard's grandmother wrote to him to suggest he read:
"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking,
because she had liked it. Her advice, and this
applies to us all,: "You've got one go in life, so
make the most of it. " It would seem Sir Richard
heard those words before they were said. As the
head of 150 or so enterprises that carry the Virgin
name, all of which make money, his personal wealth is
estimated at nearly $3 billion. It seems to us he
has followed that personal dream and made the most of
it.
Sir Richard still holds
the record as fastest to cross the Atlantic ocean in a
boat called Atlantic Challenger. Another goal, was
to be the first to circle the globe in a balloon, but
here he was pipped at the post by the Breitling Orbiter.
He took this rather well. Nevertheless, he set the
standard by which others were eager to compete.
Not a bad achievement for a dyslexic.
Sir Richard's talents
began to show themselves during his later school years.
Seeing the energy of student activism in the late 60's,
he decided to start his own student newspaper. Not
particularly unusual, except his paper was intended to
tie many schools together. It would be focused on the
students and not the schools. It would sell advertising
to big business and feature articles by Ministers of
Parliament, Rock Stars, and movie celebrities. That was
the business plan that 17 year old Richard Branson put
together with his friend, Jonny Gems. The rest is
history. The headmaster of Stowe, where Richard
and Jonny were students, wrote: "Congratulations,
Branson. I predict that you will either go to prison or
become a millionaire."
After this Sir Richard
turned his attention to music. The name
"Virgin" came about when when one group member
said: "they we're complete virgins at
business." Virgin Airlines is very much a
Richard Branson style company offering reasonable on
transatlantic flights. Once again Sir Richard
spotted a gap in the market and filled it
spectacularly. Congratulations, and here's to your
next Billion.
Sir Richard Branson, is
the reserve pilot for the Virgin Atlantic
GlobalFlyer,
is one of Britain's best known entrepreneurs who
combines his enthusiasm for running the Virgin group of
companies with his love for high-risk, high-adventure
world record-breaking attempts.
In 1984 Richard formed
Virgin Atlantic Airways and in the last two decades has
grown the airline into Britain's second-largest carrier.
To promote the Virgin Atlantic name, Richard became
involved in a number of high-publicity record-breaking
attempts throughout the 1980s and '90s. In 1986, his
boat Virgin Atlantic Challenger II crossed the Atlantic
Ocean in the fastest ever recorded time. A year later he
flew the Virgin Atlantic Flyer balloon - the largest
ever built - across the Atlantic.
In 1991 Richard's balloon
crossed the Pacific from Japan to Canada breaking all
existing records and he followed that with a number of
attempts to circumnavigate the entire world. These were
sadly thwarted by bad weather and in 1999 a Swiss team
became the first to complete the trip. In 2002 Steve
Fossett (Richard's partner for the earlier Virgin Global
Challenger balloon project and now the Virgin Atlantic
GlobalFlyer) became the first person to complete a solo
circumnavigation of the globe by balloon. Now the
pair are reunited to attempt another great aviation
first - a solo, non-stop flight around the world in less
than 80 hours.
Richard received a
knighthood for his services to entrepreneurship in 1999.
He is married and lives with Joan and their two
children, Holly and Sam, in London and Oxfordshire, UK.
Virgin
Atlantic Boeing 747
Life
and career
Sir
Richard Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School (now Bishopsgate
School) until the age of 13, then he attended Stowe until he was 15 years
old. An entrepreneur it seemed since birth having started two failed
ventures by the age 15, a christmas tree growing business and pigeon
raising farm. Surprisingly, Richard wasn't a very good student, suffering
from dyslexia and a general curious spirit, a serious athletic injury,
Richard being the captain of his Football and Cricket teams, would help
launch Richard's illustrious career. At age 16, Richard decided to quit
school and move to London. There he began his first successful
entrepreneurial activities setting up Student Magazine. When he was
17, he opened a Student Advisory Centre, his first charity institution.
Branson set up a record mail order business in 1970, started a record shop
in Oxford Street, London
shortly afterwards, and then in 1972 the record label Virgin Records with
Nik Powell, opening a recording studio.
The
company's first issue was multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield's Tubular
Bells, which was to be a best-seller. Actually the album was released
by Virgin just because no other company dared to release such an
unconventional record. Branson's company also courted controversy by
signing bands like the Sex Pistols, whose contract more conventional
companies had dispensed with, but won praise for exposing the public to
obscure avant-garde music such as the krautrock bands Faust and Can.
Virgin also introduced Culture Club to the music world. In the early
1980's he purchased the gay Nightclub Heaven. To keep his airline company
afloat Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI in 1992, a more
conservatively-minded company which previously had rescinded the contract
of the Pistols. Branson is said to have wept when the sale was completed
since the record business had been the genesis of the Virgin empire. He
later formed V2 Records to re-enter the music business.
He
has a son Sam, 21 and a daughter Holly, 24 (2006)
Covers
from Private Eye featuring Richard Branson. Left (September 8,
2000): caption reads: I'm sorry, your winnings have been delayed -
referring to Virgin's unsuccessful bid for the franchise to manage the UK
National Lottery, and Virgin Trains' poor time-keeping record. Right
(December 29, 2000): Richard Branson dressed as Santa Claus - caption
reads: No-one believes in you anymore
Business
exploits
Branson
formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, launched Virgin Mobile in 1999,
Virgin Blue in Australia
in 2000, and later failed in a 2000 bid to handle the National
Lottery.
In
1997 Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business
exploits by entering into the railway business. Virgin Trains won the
franchises for the former InterCity West Coast and Cross-Country sectors
of British Rail. Launched with the usual Branson fanfare with promises of
new high-tech tilting trains and enhanced levels of service, Virgin Trains
soon ran into problems with the aging rolling stock and crumbling
infrastructure it had inherited from BR. The company's reputation was
almost irreversibly damaged in the late 1990s as it struggled to make
trains reliably run on time while it awaited the modernisation of the West
Coast Main Line, and the arrival of new rolling stock.
Virgin
has acquired European short-haul airline EuroBelgian Airlines, renaming it
Virgin Express. It also started a national airline based in Nigeria,
called Virgin Nigeria. Another airline, Virgin America, is set to launch
out of San Francisco in 2006. Branson has also developed a Virgin
Cola brand, but is now retreating only to the UK market, and even a
Virgin Vodka brand, which has not been an overly successful enterprise. As
a consequence of these lacklustre performers and perceived obscure
accounting practices, the satirical British fortnightly magazine, Private
Eye, has been critical of Branson and his companies. (see Private
Eye picture caption)
After
the so-called campaign of "dirty tricks" (see expanded
reference in Virgin Atlantic Airways), Branson sued rival airline
British Airways for libel in 1992. John King, then-chairman of British
Airways, countersued Branson, and the case went to trial in 1993. British
Airways, faced with likely defeat, settled the case, giving £500,000 to
Branson and a further £110,000 to his airline and had to pay legal fees
of up to £3 million. Branson divided his compensation (the so-called BA
bonus) among his staff.
On
September 25, 2004 he announced the signing of a deal under which a new
space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology behind
SpaceShipOne to take paying passengers into suborbital space. The group
plans to make flights available to the public by late 2007 with tickets
priced at $200,000. The deal was mostly financed by Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen, and the modern American
space engineer & visionary, Burt Rutan.
Richard
sitting astride a giant Virgin Cola branded propane tank
part
of the Virgin Global Flyer balloon in Marrakech, Morocco in 1997
Branson
has been tagged as a 'transformational leader' by management lexicon, with
his maverick strategies and his stress on the Virgin Group as an
organization driven on informality and information, one that's bottom
heavy rather than strangled by top-level management.
Although
Branson says his success was not planned, and it just happened, he has
said that he has 10 secrets to success:
-
You've
got to challenge the big ones.
-
Keep
it casual.
-
Haggle:
everything is negotiable.
-
Have
fun working.
-
Do
the right things for the brand.
-
Smile
for the cameras!
-
Don't
lead "sheep", herd "cats".
-
Move
like a bullet.
-
Size
does matter.
-
Be
a common, regular person.
He
was 9th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, worth just over £3billion.
He
is the No 1 Admired Businessman in Britain, and 2nd choice amongst youth
for Prime Minister (after Tony Blair) [3].
He has a cameo appearance in the new Superman film, credited as
"Shuttle Engineer", alongside his son Sam, with Virgin Galactic-esque
commercial suborbital shuttle at the center of his storyline. He will have
a cameo in the upcoming James Bond film Casino Royale as well.
Politics
Branson
was fêted by the Conservative
government in the 1980s, and was briefly given the post of "litter
tsar" by Margaret Thatcher — charged with "keeping Britain
tidy." He was again seen as close to the government when the Labour
Party came to power in 1997. In 2005 he declared that there were only
negligible differences between the two main parties on economic matters.[4]
He reputedly considered running for Mayor
of London in 2004, but decided not to. Branson has described himself
as a libertarian.
Controversy
Richard
Branson has in the past openly admitted to smoking cannabis, and
considered selling cannabis in Virgin stores if it were to become legal [5].
Another
controversy came about when Virgin Atlantic allegedly reported British
Airways for price fixing in June 2006 BBC
Link. Competitor of Branson the serial entrepreneur Sir Stelios
Haji-Ioannou said when asked about his nemesis "Lets be honest -
Branson is some hippy from the 1960s whereas I'm a university graduate who
went through formal training to become a businessman." ( Source
EuroBusiness March 2001)
Honours
In
1993, Branson received the honorary
degree of Doctor of Technology from Loughborough University.
He
became Sir Richard Branson when he was knighted by the Queen
in 1999 for "services to entrepreneurship"[6].
He
is the Patron of the International Rescue Corps which is one of the
few truly independent front-line search and rescue organisations in the
world - a UK registered charity, financed solely by donations and their
own fund raising, and manned totally by volunteers.
He
has guest starred, playing himself, on several television shows, including
Friends, Baywatch, Birds of a Feather, The Daily
Show, Only Fools and Horses, The Day Today and a special
episode of the comedy Goodness Gracious Me. He has also had a cameo in Superman
Returns, and soon will be featured in the 2006 James
Bond film Casino Royale. He also was the star of a reality
television show on Fox called The Rebel Billionaire, in which
sixteen contestants were tested for their entrepreneurship and sense of
adventure. It did not succeed as a rival show to Donald Trump's The
Apprentice and only lasted one season.
Sir
Richard appears at No. 85 on the 2002 list of "100 Greatest
Britons" (sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public). His high
public profile often leaves him open as a figure of satire — the 2000 AD
series Zenith featured a parody of Branson as a supervillain, as
the comic's publisher and favoured distributor and the Virgin group were
in competition at the time. He is also caricatured in The Simpsons
episode Monty Can't Buy Me Love as the tycoon Arthur Fortune, and as the
ballooning megalomaniac Richard Chutney (a pun on Brans[t]on) in Believe
Nothing.
In
July of 2006, Sir Richard announced he was looking at starting a new
venture, involving alternative fuels - Virgin
Fuels of course.
LINKS
and REFERENCE
-
Branson,
Richard. Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, And Made
a Fortune Doing Business My Way, 1999, Three Rivers Press. ISBN
0-8129-3229-3
-
Branson,
Richard. Losing My Virginity, Revised Edition First Published
in Great Britain by Virgin Books Limited, London, 2002
-
Branson,
Sir Richard and Prescot, Colin. To the Edge of Space: The
Adventures of a Balloonist, 2000, Boxtree. ISBN 0-7522-1865-4
-
Branson,
Sir Richard. Sir Richard Branson, the Autobiography, 2002,
Longman. ISBN 0-582-51224-7
-
Branson,
Sir Richard. Losing my virginity — The autobiography, 2005,
ISBN 0-7535-1020-0
-
Bower,
Tom. Branson, 2001, ISBN 1-84115-400-8
-
Branson,
Sir Richard. Screw it, let's do it, 2006, ISBN 0-7535-1099-5
Virgin
Airlines - Richard Branson's largest venture
flies in the face of the competition by offering
personalized service and passenger comfort.
Richard
Branson: The Top Of The World - Try to
keep up with the high-flying businessman in this
whirlwind portrait. A video you can order from the
Biography Channel.
Virgin
Global Challenger -
Richard Branson's round the world balloon quest with Steve Fossett.
RICHARD BRANSONS BIOGRAPHY
