Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson

Branson at the Time 100 Gala, 4 May 2010.
Born Richard Charles Nicholas Branson
18 July 1!0 "a#e $0%
Blac&heath, 'ondon,
(n#land, )nited *in#dom
Residence 'ondon, (n#land
Nationality British
Occupation Business+erson
Years active 1$$,-resent
Known for Chairman o. /ir#in Grou+
Net worth 012.97 illion !2"#"$
Reli%ion 2theism
Spouse *risten Tomassi "132,13%"di4orced%
Joan Tem+leman "18,+resent%
Children 5olly Branson "6orn 181%
7am Branson "6orn 184%
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British industrialist, best known for
his Virgin Grou of o!er "#0 $o%anies&
't age 1#, Branson had his first su$$essful business !enture, ublishing a %aga(ine $alledStudent&
)1*
+n 19,0, he set u an audio re$ord %ail-order business& +n 19,., he oened a $hain of re$ord stores,
Virgin /e$ords, later known as Virgin 0egastores& Branson1s Virgin brand grew raidly during the
1980s2as he set u Virgin 'tlanti$ 'irways and e3anded the Virgin /e$ords%usi$ label&
/i$hard Branson is the .1.th ri$hest erson in the world a$$ording to 4orbes1 .009 (5dated
0"&10&10) list of billionaires, with an esti%ated net worth of aro3i%ately 6.&9, billion (5789&0billion)&
Early life
Branson 8as 6orn at 7tone.ield Nursin# 5ome in Bla$kheath, :ondon, the son
o. barrister(d8ard James Branson and (4e Branson.5is #rand.ather the /ight
;onourable 7ir Geor#e 2rthur 5ar8in Branson 8as a 9ud#e o. the ;igh <ourt of Justi$e and
a =ri!y <oun$illor.Branson 8as educated at 7caitcli..e 7chool "no8 Bishosgate
7$hool% until the a#e o. thirteen. 5e then attended 7towe 7$hool until the a#e o. si:teen.
Branson has dysle3ia and had +oor academic +er.ormance as a student, 6ut later
disco4ered his a6ility to connect 8ith others.
Personal life
Branson is the eldest of four siblings& ;e has two sisters, :indi and Vanessa Branson& ;is brother,
>ed, followed in their father1s footstes and be$a%e a barrister& Branson1s oor a$ade%i$ re$ords
$ontrasted with e3$ellent erfor%an$e in sorts, ese$ially swi%%ing&
?ith Joan >e%le%an he has two $hildren, ;olly (b& 1981) and 7a% (b& 1989)& ;e re!ealed in an
inter!iew with =iers 0organ that he and wife Joan had a daughter na%ed <lare 7arah who died
when she was @ust four days old in 19,9& >he $oule wed2at their daughter ;olly1s suggestion
when she was eight years old2in 1989 at Ae$ker +sland, a ,9-a$re ("0 ha) island in the British
Virgin +slands that Branson owns&;e also owns land on the <aribbean +slands of 'ntigua and
Barbuda& ;olly Branson is now a do$tor& Branson is a suorter ofB3ford 5nited&
+n 1998, Branson released his autobiograhy, titled Losing My Virginity, an international
bestseller&+n it, he wrote of feeling defen$eless in a balloonC D+ do not belie!e in God, but as + sat
there in the da%aged $asule, hoelessly !ulnerable to the slightest shift in weather or
%e$hani$al fault, + $ould not belie!e %y eyes&D
Branson was deely saddened by the disaearan$e of fellow ad!enturer 7te!e 4ossett in
7ete%ber .00,E and, the following %onth, he wrote an arti$le for Time %aga(ine, titled D0y
4riend, 7te!e 4ossettD&
Business ventures
Branson for%ed Virgin 'tlanti$ 'irways in 1989, laun$hed Virgin 0obile in 1999, Virgin Blue in
'ustralia in .000& ;e was 9th in the 7unday >i%es /i$h :ist .00#, worth @ust o!er 6" billion&
Branson wrote in his autobiograhy of the de$ision to start an airlineC
&
My interest in li.e comes .rom settin# mysel. hu#e, a++arently unachie4a6le challen#es and
tryin# to rise a6o4e them....rom the +ers+ecti4e o. 8antin# to li4e li.e to the .ull, ; .elt that ;
had to attem+t it.
'
Business practices
Branson1s business e%ire is owned by a $o%li$ated series of offshore trusts and
$o%anies& The Sunday Times stated that his wealth is $al$ulated at 6"&0#5 billionE if he were to
retire to his <aribbean island and liFuidate all of this he would ay relati!ely little in ta3&
?hen Virgin 0obile laun$hed its ser!i$e in <anada on 1 0ar$h .005, the use of Dnaughty nursesD
in its ad!ertising triggered >he /egistered Aurses 'sso$iation of Bntario to de%and an aology
fro% Branson and an i%%ediate sto to the $a%aign, and $alled on %e%bers to boy$ott Virgin
0obile& Virgin 0obile sokeswo%an =aula :ash said the $o%any ne!er intended to offend
anyone, but was not about to ull the ad!ertising&
<hen /ir#in Mo6ile included =su+er hot holiday= 8ra++in# +a+er 8ith the >ecem6er
200! issue o. youth ma#a?ine Vice, as +art o. the 5ot Bo: +romotion, the 8ra++in# +a+er
contained illustrated holiday an#els, 8here the male an#el is touchin# the .emale@s 6reast,
8hile the .emale an#el has her hand on the male@s #enitals.4a%ous =layers sto++ed its
+artnershi+ deals 8ith /ir#in Mo6ile a.ter a com+lain
Honours
+n 199", Branson was awarded an honorary degree of Go$tor of >e$hnology fro% :oughborough
5ni!ersity&
;e was knighted in 1999 for his Dser!i$es to entrereneurshiD& +n .000, Branson re$ei!ed the
1>ony Jannus 'ward1 for his a$$o%lish%ents in $o%%er$ial air transortation&
Branson is the atron of se!eral $harities, in$luding the +nternational /es$ue <ors and =risoners
'broad, a registered $harity whi$h suorts Britons who are detained outside of the 5H&
Branson aears at Ao& 85 on the .00. list of D100 Greatest BritonsD (sonsored by the BB< and
!oted for by the ubli$)& 7ir /i$hard also ranks Ao& 8# on <hannel 91s .00" list of D100 ?orst
BritonsD& 7ir /i$hard was also ranked in .00,1s Time Magazine D>o 100 0ost +nfluential =eole
in the ?orldD& +n .009, Branson was !oted the 5H1s D<elebrity Grea% BossD in an oinion oll
by <an$er /esear$h 5H&
Bn , Ge$e%ber .00,, 5nited Aations 7e$retary General Ban Hi-0oon resented Branson with
the 5nited Aations <orresondents 'sso$iation <iti(en of the ?orld 'ward for his suort for
en!iron%ental and hu%anitarian $auses&