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RICHARD BRANSON &
VIRGIN
Probably Britain's best known Entrepreneur
Birth Name: Richard Charles Nicholas Branson Birthdate:
7/18/1950
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.
By RICHARD BRANSON & VIRGIN
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