Sir Richard Branson
He is the man behind the Virgin Empire, who now holds the title of the 4th richest citizen in the UK, with an estimated net worth of US$4.2 billion. Sir Richard Branson, 61, is the ultimate self-made billionaire who has a keen eye for lucrative business opportunities ahead of the rest.
Branson was born and raised in a middle-class family in Blackheath, London. He attended school until the age of 16 with poor academic results because he suffers from dyslexia. However, he soon discovered that he had a great ability to connect with others.
“My interest in life comes fromsetting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them...from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it”.
The Virgin Empire
Branson’s first successful business venture was a magazine called Student, when he was just 16 years old. He began advertising popular records in the magazine, which made it an overnight success. Trading under the name Virgin, he sold music records via mail-order for a considerably lower price than the high-street outlets and thus the Virgin Empire was born in 1970.
In 1972, he opened a chain of Virgin Megastores, with the first one opened in London’s Oxford Street. Shortly after, together with Nik Powell, he built a recording studio under the trade name Virgin Records. In 1977, the pair signed on the controversial music band the Sex Pistols and later the Culture Club and the Rolling Stones, helping the brand become one of the top record companies in the world.
Branson formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, which set the pace for a series of airline acquisitions throughout the decade.
In 1993 he took what many saw as one of his riskier business exploits, entering into the railway business with Virgin Trains, formed to take advantage of the privatisation of British Rail in the mid-1990s.
Branson also developed a Virgin Cola brand and Virgin Vodka.
One of his more interesting ventures came in 2004, when Virgin Galactic, a new space tourism venture, was born to take paying passengers into suborbital space. The company plans to make flights available to the public with tickets priced at $200,000 a piece. As of September 2011, there were around 450 ticket-holders in line to fly with Virgin Galactic.
Branson’s up and coming venture with the Virgin Group is Virgin fuels, which is set to exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and aircraft. In 2006, he pledged to invest the profits of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains (about $3 billion) to research environmentally-friendly fuels.
In 2006, Branson formed Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focused on creating new stories and characters for a global audience.
With a truly world-domination approach, in 2007 he launched the Virgin Health Bank, offering parents-to-be the opportunity to store their baby’s umbilical cord blood stem cells.
One of Branson’s major deals came in November 2011 when Virgin Money bought Northern Rock for £747million from the UK Government. Later in December, the billionaire businessman announced that he plans to open bank branches on the main railway route between London and Scotland that transports 30 million passengers a year. Branson's expansion of Virgin Money, his fast-growing finance business, would bring the online and phone-only business its first retail branches. The move is also expected to create 1 million more customers to Virgin Money, lifting the total to 4 million.
Notably, the Virgin brand was suggested by one of Branson’s early employees because they were all new at the business. Virgin Group is today an organisation driven by informality and information and one that is bottom-heavy with much focus on individual employees. It has more than 300 companies, over 50,000 employees and makes more than $25 billion a year in revenue.
“A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts”.
World Record Attempts
Branson is also famous for his numerous world record attempts. In 1986, together with Sailing Expert Daniel McCarthy, he beat the record of the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing in 2 hours, in his boat Virgin Atlantic Challenger II. A year later, he breached another record. This time in his hot air balloon Virgin Atlantic Flyer – the largest hot air balloon to cross the Atlantic.
In 2004, Branson also set a record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle.
An Activist
In the late 1990s, Branson discussed with Nelson Mandela an idea of bringing together a small dedicated group of leaders whose prime aim would be to discuss the solvency of difficult global conflicts. In 2007, they announced the formation of The Elders who catalyse peaceful resolutions to conflicts that bring human suffering and instead promote wisdom whilst connecting voices from all over the world.
One of Branson’s favourite charity organisations is Virgin Unite, a non-profit foundation that tackles tough social and environmental problems. In partnership with the organisation, Branson set up in 2005 the Branson School of Entrepreneurship, which aims to improve economic growth in South Africa by supporting start-ups and micro-enterprises with mentors, networks and financial arrangements.
In 2008, the entrepreneur hosted an activist gathering on his private island in the Caribbean Necker Island, with several prominent celebrities and world leaders present. They discussed Global Warming issues, hoping to raise awareness and find a collateralised action plan.
The secret to being productive
During an interview on his private oasis in Necker Island, Branson was asked perhaps the most important question in the world of business: How do you become more productive? He leaned back and answered with a smile, “
Work out”. Working out daily gave him at least 4 more hours of productive time each day.