Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, born July 18, 1950 in the city of Blackheath, which is part of Greater London, is a well-known British entrepreneur. He became famous thanks to the numerous successes of the Virgin brand he created, uniting many enterprises, including airlines, retail chains, etc.
Branson Richard founded such companies as Virgin Atlantic (air transportation), Virgin Cola (carbonated drinks), Virgin Direct (financial products), Virgin Trains (railway transport), Virgin Mobile (mobile communications), Virgin Active (gymnasium network), Virgin Money (financial company), Virgin Galactic (space tourism).
In addition, he is the author of a number of literary works, the most famous of which is the book "Losing Innocence."
Richard Branson is on the 261st place in the list of the richest people in the world according to 2009 Forbes magazine. The businessman’s fortune is estimated at approximately 2.6 billion pounds ($ 3.9 billion).
Personal life
Branson married Kristen Tomazzi in 1972 and divorced her in 1979. The second time he married in 1989 on Necker Island, which belongs to the British Virgin Islands and belongs to Branson. She and Joan, his second wife, have a daughter, Holly, and a son, Sam. In one interview, Richard said that she and Joan had another daughter named Claire Sarah, who died in 1979 when she was only four days old.
In December 2014, when Holly gave birth to twins, a famous businessman became a grandfather.
Childhood and career start
As a child, Richard Branson, whose quotes now motivate many people to radically change their lives, suffered from dyslexia (which was not found at that time) and rather mediocre in two schools, consistently receiving poor grades. The school principal once said: "You will either end up in jail or become a billionaire." He was right: Richard spent one night in prison for tax fraud when Virgin, which was just starting to develop, had financial difficulties.
He was fond of sports until he injured his knee as a result of an accident. Very early on, he showed a desire to become an entrepreneur: even at the age of nine, without much success, he tried to grow New Year trees for sale, and later he planted budgies.
At the age of fifteen, Branson, in whom interest in publishing woke up, dropped out of school and left for London, where he took part in the creation of an independent student magazine. Together with his school friend Jonathan Holland-Gems, he founded Students magazine and made it possible to interview a number of famous personalities for free. Later, he will expand the range of activities of the Students brand by opening the Student Advisory Center, which, among other things, helped students with family planning issues. In the future, this initiative will continue to exist under the name HELP. Faced with difficulties in attracting sponsors and distributing the magazine, Branson Richard decides to start selling music records by mail in order to make a profit that would allow his company to grow. It was at this moment that the name Virgin was chosen, proposed by one of the employees, who said: "We are all virgins in matters of business."
Development of the company
In order to deal with the consequences of a major strike by British postal workers that severely damaged the record distribution business, Richard Branson, whose job reviews spread surprisingly quickly, opened his first retail outlet on Oxford Street in London. After some time, he first invests in a large amount, having bought a mansion near Oxford and turning it into a recording studio. The studio, in which artists could also live, was named The Manor ("Manor"). Shortly thereafter, Richard Branson, along with Nick Powell and Simon Draper, created the Virgin Records label.
The first album, released in 1973 under the Virgin label, was Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Branson Richard organized the promotion of the disc, and also performed the role of producer. Some tracks from this album were used in the movie "Exorcist", which significantly increased the popularity of the artist, and the album sold with tremendous success. Over ten years, more than ten million copies of this disc will be sold, and total sales by 2000 will reach seventeen million. Branson subsequently decided to diversify the cast of the Virgin label, which was too closely associated with the hippy movement and progressive music provided by Mike Oldfield, who provided much of Virgin's success in the early years. To change the image, a contract was signed with the scandalous group Sex Pistols, as well as musicians representing various areas of pop and rock music, for example, Phil Collins and Culture Club.
In the 1980s, Virgin progressed very rapidly and with varying success expanded its activities to various fields: books, videos, restaurants, etc. Several small stores in the UK have become the international Virgin Megastores chain. Most of all, Branson Richard invests in the field of air transport, in 1992 he even sold the EMI brand Virgin Music to free up funds for the development of Virgin Airways.
Richard Branson made a business proposal to British Airways: he wanted to buy Concorde airplanes for his Virgin Atlantic airline at a nominal price when their flights were discontinued in November 2003.
On July 18, 2007, at the initiative of Richard Branson, musician Peter Gabriel, Nelson Mandela, Grassa Machel and Desmond Tutu, a meeting was held in Johannesburg of the most influential people from around the world who want to contribute and use their experience and wisdom to solve the most important problems on the planet . During a speech on his 89th birthday, Nelson Mandela announced the creation of the Global Elders Council (world elders or sages). Desmond Tutu is the chairman of this council, and its founders also include Kofi Annan, Ala Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter, Li Zhaoxing, Mary Robinson and Mohammed Yunus.
In 2009, Branson Richard sponsored a new Formula 1 team called the Brawn GP Formula One Team. The pilot of this team Jenson Button October 18, 2009 became the world champion. In 2010, Virgin created its own team called Virgin Racing, based on the Manor Grand Prix. In 2011, Branson said that 50% of his time is devoted to working with non-profit organizations.
On July 1, 2012, he crossed the English Channel on kite surf (a sport where an athlete glides on the water on a surfboard, using a kite as a driving force). 61-year-old Branson was the first athlete of this age to overcome this path. On March 26, 2014, he told correspondents in the German business newspaper Handelsblatt that he wanted to launch an offensive in the cruise industry. The newspaper said that the businessman was going to build Virgin Cruises ships in shipyards in Italy and Germany.
Movie appearances
Branson appeared in a small role in the movie Casino Royale (2006). In addition, he participated in the filming of the series "Friends", where he played the role of a seller in the 23rd episode of the fourth season. One of his Virgin Atlantic’s planes was also shot in this episode.Prior to this, Richard Branson starred in a cameo role in the film "Around the World in Eighty Days" (2004).
Awards
December 31, 1999 Branson was awarded the title of knight.
Funny stories
Richard Branson is the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon. Without a shadow of doubt, he sponsored his friend, American Steve Fossett, who died on September 4, 2007 and also held many records.
Richard Branson, whose biography has seen many unexpected turns, claims that on June 27, 2008, he refused to pay a bribe of one million euros to the French minister, who asked her for assistance in obtaining permission to work on Sundays for Virgin Megastores stores.
In 2010, Richard Branson, who owns the Virgin Racing team and Virgin Airlines, made a bet with Tony Fernandez, owner of the Lotus Racing Stables and Air Asia. Under the terms of the dispute, the one whose team scores fewer points in the constructors' cup at the World Cup will have to work as a flight attendant at the winner’s airline. Lotus was in 10th place, and Virgin in 12th. Richard Branson repaid May 12, 2013 on a flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur.
Witty Branson is pleased to quote his fans from various fields of activity. But the main. what everyone needs to remember is, perhaps, the following quote: "The lesson I have learned and which I have been following all my life was that you have to try and try and try again - but never give up!".
