Richard Branson (b. 1950)

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"Virgin America Interview" — May 2009

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Biography

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and, as of 2016, controlled five companies.

Timeline

The story of Richard Branson, told in moments.

1950 Birth

Born in Blackheath, London. His mother is a former ballet dancer and flight attendant. Dyslexic and restless, he drops out of school at 16. His headmaster's parting words: "You will either go to prison or become a millionaire."

Did your headmaster's prediction motivate you or haunt you? How did dyslexia shape the way you approach problems? Was dropping out of school at sixteen brave or reckless?

1970 Event

Founds a mail-order record business from the crypt of a church in London. He names it Virgin because he and his partners are virgins at business. The first record he sells at a discount: Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. It goes multi-platinum.

Why name it Virgin if you knew nothing about business? What made you gamble on Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells? Did selling records from a church crypt feel appropriately rebellious?

1984 Life

Launches Virgin Atlantic Airways with a single leased Boeing 747 on the London-Newark route. British Airways will spend the next decade trying to destroy the airline. Branson sues BA for dirty tricks and wins.

What made you think you could take on British Airways with one plane? Was the dirty tricks lawsuit satisfying or exhausting? Did you ever doubt Virgin Atlantic would survive?

1987 Event

Crosses the Atlantic in a hot air balloon, the first to do so. The capsule ditches in the Irish Sea and Branson has to be rescued by helicopter. He tries the Pacific in 1991 and lands in a frozen lake in Canada.

What possesses someone to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon? How close to dying were you when the capsule hit the Irish Sea? Did nearly drowning stop you or encourage you?

2004 Event

Founds Virgin Galactic with the goal of commercial spaceflight. Development takes 17 years. A 2014 test flight crash kills co-pilot Michael Alsbury. Branson presses forward.

Was the 2014 crash the lowest point of your career? Did you ever consider abandoning the spaceflight dream? What kept you going for seventeen years of development?

2021 Event

Rides Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity to the edge of space, beating Jeff Bezos by nine days. He's 70 years old. The flight reaches 53.5 miles altitude. "I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars," he says afterward. "Now I'm an adult in a spaceship."

Was beating Bezos to space by nine days sweet? What does the child with a dream say to the adult in the spaceship? At seventy, was space everything you imagined?

In Their Own Words (13)

On one of my last days at school, aged 15, my headmaster predicted that I would either end up in prison or become a millionaire ... So for anyone anxious about their A-level results today, I hope this brings you some encouragement!

Post on X (15 August 2024), as cite in Martha Gill "A-levels are far from perfect, but in the exam hall every pupil – rich or poor – is equally afraid", The Observer (18 August 2024), 2024

We're here to make space more accessible to all. We want to turn the next generation of dreamers into the astronauts of today and tomorrow. We've all us on this stage have had the most extraordinary experience, and we'd love it if a number of you can have it, too. … If you ever had a dream, now is the time to make it come true — and I'd like to end by saying welcome to the dawn of a new space age.

Quoted in "Richard Branson goes to space", by Jackie Wattles, Fernando Alfonso III and Mike Hayes, CNN (11 July 2021), 2021

I think other companies need to stand on their own two feet, and the weak ones need to go to the wall.

Interviewed by the BBC on his opposition to extending bail-outs beyond the banking sector during the , 21 February 2009, 2009

My general attitude to life is to enjoy every minute of every day. I never do anything with a feeling of, “Oh God, I've got to do this today.”

From his interview in The Guardian newspaper, 20th September 2008, 2008

I was born under a lucky star, and I have nothing whatsoever to regret. I wouldn’t change a thing about my life.

In his interview with Nina Myskow for Saga magazine, July 2007, 2007