Richard Branson Books In Order

[Zulema Estabrooks]

SirRichard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate.[1] In the 1970s, he co-founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.[2][3][4]

In March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for "services to entrepreneurship".[5] Due to his work in retail, music, and transport, his taste for adventure, and for his humanitarian work, he has become a prominent global figure.[6][7] In 2007, he was placed in the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list. In June 2023, Forbes listed Branson's estimated net worth at US$3 billion.[8]

On 11 July 2021, Branson travelled as a passenger onboard Virgin Galactic Unity 22 at the edge of space, a suborbital test flight for his spaceflight company Virgin Galactic.[9][10] The mission lasted approximately one hour, reaching a peak altitude of 53.5 miles (86.1 km). At 70, Branson became the third oldest person to fly to space.[11]

Branson's great-great-great-grandfather, John Edward Branson, left England for India in 1793; John Edward's father, Harry Wilkins Branson, later joined his son in Madras. Starting from 1793, four generations of Branson's family lived in India, mostly at Cuddalore, in modern-day Tamil Nadu. On the show Finding Your Roots, Branson was shown to have 3.9% South Asian (Indian) DNA, likely through intermarriage.[15] Later, he stated that one of his great-great-great-grandmothers was an Indian named Ariya.[18]

Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School, a prep school in Surrey, before briefly attending Cliff View House School in Sussex.[19] He attended Stowe School, a private school in Buckinghamshire until the age of sixteen.[19]

Branson has dyslexia, and had poor academic performance; on his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson, told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire.[20][19] Branson has also talked openly about having ADHD.[21] Branson's parents were supportive of his endeavours from an early age.[22] His mother was an entrepreneur; one of her most successful ventures was building and selling wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper bins.[23] In London, he started off squatting from 1967 to 1968.[24]

Branson is an atheist.[25][26] He said in a 2011 interview with CNN's Piers Morgan that he believes in evolution and the importance of humanitarian efforts but not in the existence of God. "I would love to believe," he said. "It's very comforting to believe".[27]

After failed attempts to grow and sell both Christmas trees and budgerigars, Branson launched a magazine named Student in 1966 with Nik Powell. The first issue of Student appeared in January 1968, and a year later, Branson's net worth was estimated at 50,000. The office for the venture was situated in the crypt of St. John's Church, off Bayswater Road, in London.[28] Though not initially as successful as he hoped, the magazine later became a vital component of the mail-order record business Branson started from the same church he used for Student. Branson used the magazine to advertise popular albums, driving his record sales.[29] He interviewed several prominent personalities of the late 1960s for the magazine including Mick Jagger and R. D. Laing.[30] Branson took over full direction of Student after successfully lying to Powell that the workers at the magazine opposed Powell's plans to turn the magazine into a cooperative.[31][32]

His business sold records for considerably less than the "High Street" outlets, especially the chain WHSmith. Branson once said, "There is no point in starting your own business unless you do it out of a sense of frustration."[33] At the time, many products were sold under restrictive marketing agreements that limited discounting, despite efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to limit retail price maintenance.[note 1]

Branson eventually started a record shop in Oxford Street in London. In 1971, he was questioned in connection with the selling of records declared export stock. The matter was never brought before a court because Branson agreed to repay any unpaid purchase tax of 33% and a 70,000 fine. His parents re-mortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.[30]

In 1972, using money earned from his record store, Branson launched the record label Virgin Records with Nik Powell. The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees because they were all new at business.[34] Branson bought a country estate north of Oxford in which he installed a residential recording studio, The Manor Studio.[35] He leased studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, whose debut album Tubular Bells (1973) was the first release for Virgin Records and became a chart-topping best-seller.[36]

Virgin signed controversial bands such as the Sex Pistols, which other companies were reluctant to sign. Virgin Records would go on to sign other artists including the Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, XTC, Japan, UB40, Steve Winwood and Paula Abdul, and to become the world's largest independent record label.[37] It also won praise for exposing the public to such lesser known avant-garde music as Faust and Can. Virgin Records also introduced Culture Club to the music world.

Branson's first successful entry into the airline industry was during a trip to Puerto Rico. His flight was cancelled, so he decided to charter his own plane the rest of the way and offered a ride to the rest of the stranded passengers for a small fee to cover the cost.[38]

In 1983, Now That's What I Call Music! emerged from Virgin Records offices as a unique compilation series, distinct in its originality. Collaborating with EMI, Peter Jamieson orchestrated the partnership on Richard Branson's boat, leading to the concise and impactful title "Now That's What I Call Music!," inspired by a Danish Bacon poster[40] gifted to Simon Draper. Richard Branson's introduction to the antique shop owned by Joan Templeman,[41] played a pivotal role in his growing fascination with old signs and advertisements, ultimately shaping the collection.[42]

In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI for 500 million.[43] Branson said that he wept when the sale was completed because the record business had been the very start of the Virgin empire. He created V2 Records in 1996 to re-enter the music business, owning 5% himself.[44] Virgin also acquired European short-haul airline Euro Belgian Airlines and renamed it Virgin Express. In 1997, Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business exploits by entering into the railway business during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s. Virgin Rail Group won the InterCity CrossCountry and InterCity West Coast franchises, beginning operations in January and March 1997 respectively.[45][46] Both franchises were scheduled to run for 15 years.[47][48]

A series of disputes in the early 1990s caused tension between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, which viewed Virgin as an emerging competitor. Virgin subsequently accused British Airways of poaching its passengers, hacking its computers, and leaking stories to the press that portrayed Virgin negatively. After the so-called campaign of "dirty tricks", British Airways settled the case, giving 500,000 to Branson, a further 110,000 to his airline, and had to pay legal fees of up to 3 million. Branson distributed his compensation (the so-called "BA bonus") among his staff.[49]

He was ninth in The Sunday Times Rich List 2006 of the wealthiest people or families in the UK, worth slightly more than 3 billion. Branson wrote in his autobiography of the decision to start an airline.

My interest in life comes from setting 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.

In 2006, through a merger with SN Brussels Airlines, Virgin Airlines formed Brussels Airlines, while retaining its separate listing.[55] It also started a national airline based in Nigeria, called Virgin Nigeria, which ceased operations in 2009.[56] Another airline, Virgin America, began flying out of San Francisco International Airport in August 2007.[57][58]

Branson's next venture with the Virgin group was Virgin Fuels, which was set up to respond to global warming and exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and, in the near future, aircraft. Branson has stated that he was formerly a global warming sceptic and was influenced in his decision by a breakfast meeting with Al Gore.[59]

On 21 September 2006, Branson pledged to invest the profits of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains in research for environmentally-friendly fuels. The investment is estimated to be worth $3 billion.[60][61]

On 4 July 2006, Branson sold his Virgin Mobile company to UK cable TV, broadband, and telephone company NTL:Telewest for 900 million. A new company was launched with much fanfare and publicity on 8 February 2007, under the name Virgin Media. The decision to merge his Virgin Media Company with NTL was made in order to integrate compatible areas of the two businesses. Whilst Branson had owned three-quarters of Virgin Mobile, he would now get paid 8.5 million per annum for the use of the Virgin brand name. He does not own any part of Virgin Media.[62]

In 2006, Branson formed Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focused on creating new stories and characters for a global audience. The company was founded with author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra.[63] Branson also launched the Virgin Health Bank on 1 February 2007, offering parents-to-be the opportunity to store their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells in private and public stem-cell banks.

On 13 October 2007, Branson's Virgin Group sought to add Northern Rock to its empire after submitting an offer that would result in Branson personally owning 30% of the company and changing the company's name from Northern Rock to Virgin Money.[67] The Daily Mail ran a campaign against his bid; Vince Cable, financial spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, suggested in the House of Commons that Branson's criminal conviction for tax evasion might be felt by some as a good enough reason not to trust him with public money.[68]

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