Richard Branson, the founder and chairman of the Virgin Group of Companies, was born in 1950 and started his first business, a magazine called Student, when he was sixteen. Virgin began in 1970 as a mail-order record company and has since expanded into over a hundred businesses in areas as diverse as travel, entertainment, retailing, media, financial services, and publishing. He lives in London and Oxfordshire with his wife, Joan, and their children, Holly and Sam.
“Richard is good-looking and very smart, which is sexy to start
with. He also makes a billion dollars before breakfast—and still
knows how to have fun."
-- Ivana Trump
“Few people in contemporary business are as colorful, shrewd, and
irreverent, and probably no one’s nearly as much fun to be around.
. . . Branson embodies America’s cherished mythology of the
iconoclastic, swashbuckling entrepreneur."
-- GQ
“Branson wears his fame and money exceedingly well: no necktie, no
chauffeur, no snooty clubs. . . . What continues to set Branson
apart is the unique -- and, to some, baffling -- nature of his
ambition. . . . He isn’t interested in power in the usual sense of
influencing other people. . . . Boiled down to its singular
essence, Richard Branson just wants to have fun.”
-- Newsweek
“Branson, a self-described ‘adventure capitalist,’ is a
business-creation engine who was clearly born in the wrong place. .
. . Those business instincts are matched by an ability to motivate
people who work for him. And who wouldn’t want to -- Branson seems
hell-bent on making sure that everybody, but everybody, is having
as much fun as he is.”
-- Time
“Richard Branson . . . is dressed to the nines: in a $10,000 white
silk bridal gown with a traditional veil and train and acres of
lace. . . . Branson is expected to do the unexpected, even the
bizarre -- anything to publicize his latest venture. . . . The fact
is, Branson’s widely reported stunts seem almost staid compared to
the unconventional way he manages his burgeoning empire.”
-- Forbes ASAP
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |