Richard Branson's success story. "Virgin" turned billionaire

British billionaire Richard Branson - this is an excellent example of how people, even having turned into rich and respectable adult men, sometimes do not forget to turn into a child. For Branson, his entire business and huge income is just a way to entertain himself, while simultaneously making the world a better place. And today we will tell not only about the most impressive projects this businessman, but also about him completely crazy antics.

With the life and incredible adventures of Richard Branson, writers Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstrale illustrate their famous book "Funky Business", which discusses the role of talent and immediacy in the business world, in the implementation of the most innovative and successful projects. The British billionaire, in this case, fits these principles better than anyone else.

Branson knows what it means to go against the rules, what it means to be yourself even with billions of dollars in your bank account, and how to enjoy life to the maximum, while being the head of a large international corporation with tens of thousands of employees. The businessman himself claims that he devotes only 40 percent of his time to business, and the remaining 60 is spent on entertainment.

Richard Branson is a unique example of how even expensive hobbies based on crazy childhood dreams can be turned into a large, innovative business, which is regularly covered by the world's best publications.

Virgin group

The basis of Richard Branson's business is the Virgin Group corporation, which began with the opening in 1970 of a record store in the English city of Notting Hill. Over time, one outlet has grown to become the world's largest record store chain. Success in this business gave Branson and his partners the funds to develop other endeavors.

The Virgin Group is now comprised of dozens of companies that record and sell music and video, air travel, book and video game publishing, telecommunications, media, rail, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, and many other businesses. But most of all, Richard Branson's selfless projects aimed at studying earth, underwater and outer space are heard.

From the above, it can be understood that Branson in business took on only those things that were of interest to him personally, which brought him pleasure. Each area of \u200b\u200bhis activity is, in fact, an exciting hobby, which is pleasant and exciting to do.

But for the general public, Richard Branson is not only a businessman, but also a well-known media person who has tried herself in a huge number of activities. Below we will try to list what the extraordinary English billionaire will remember for his descendants.

Virgin Racing Team

What kind of boy doesn't dream of racing? This desire did not pass by Richard Branson. He himself was engaged in auto racing, but he did not achieve much success in this. Another thing is working as a manager in motor sports. Virgin first turned their attention to Formula 1 in 2009, sponsoring the newly formed Brawn GP team.

In the very first season, Brawn GP achieved serious success - it won the constructors' cup, and therefore the next year the cost of the sponsorship contract increased significantly, and Branson decided to create his own team in Formula 1, so Virgin Racing was born.

True, Virgin Racing did not score a single point in its first season. At the end of 2010, one of the team's sponsors was the Russian car brand Marussia, with showman and race car driver Nikolai Fomenko at the head, but in the 2011 season Marussia Virgin Racing also never finished in the scoring zone. After that, Richard Branson lost interest in auto racing and completely transferred the reins of the team to his Russian partners.

Virgin galactic

Virgin Galactic came into being in 2004 after the news that the SpaceShipOne team was the first in the world to win the X-Prize, an award that is awarded for two successful flights within two weeks of a single spacecraft into suborbital space (100 kilometers above the Earth's surface and above ).

Branson, who had followed the success of the SpaceShipOne team before, decided to become a part of it, taking pioneers of private space exploration under the wing of his own company Virgin Galactic. He sponsored the construction of the new sub-space shuttle SpaceShipTwo, as well as the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft.

The technology, first successfully tested on SpaceShipOne, involves launching a space shuttle into the sky on a booster plane. Having risen as a load to a height of several tens of kilometers, the spacecraft separates and then flies on its own. It overcomes an altitude of 100 kilometers, beyond which, it is believed, the Cosmos begins. The ship is there for several minutes, after which it descends to the ground. Everyone who was on board at that moment can be considered astronauts.

Thus, Branson, through the activities of Virgin Galactic, intends to make space tourism a fairly common activity. After all, the price of such a flight is 250 thousand dollars, while a trip to orbit together with Russian cosmonauts costs 10 million.

In search of autonomy, Virgin Galactic has built its own spaceport in New Mejimo, Spaceport America. It is also a launching pad for other private space exploration companies, including SpaceX.

Richard Branson is personally involved with Virgin Galactic. He, among other things, was one of the first passengers of SpaceShipTwo.

True, the start of commercial flights of the SpaceShipTwo shuttle, which was planned for 2010, is constantly being postponed. And, apparently, postponed this date for several years.

Virgin oceanic

In order to be a pioneer in our time, it is not necessary to fly into space. Indeed, very close to us, on Earth, there are many places where people have not yet been. And most of them are located in the depths of the oceans, which have not been explored by people even by five percent.

The new venture of Richard Branson, the company, is aimed precisely at studying the underwater spaces of our planet. It is a joint project of the British billionaire with naval and explorer Chris Welsh.

It all started with the death of another famous businessman and adventurer - Steve Fossett. By his order, an underwater vehicle with the name DeepFlight Challenger, similar to an aircraft, was built. Welsh and Branson decided to continue their friend's business, bought the vehicle and created Virgin Oceanic.

The DeepFlight Challenger can dive to ultra-deep depths, including the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Paradoxically, people have been only at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, ignoring the other oceans of the Earth. And Virgin Oceanic plans to correct this annoying misunderstanding by exploring the deepest and most inaccessible parts of the underwater world of our planet.

After all, almost 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water. It is home to about ninety percent of all living beings on the planet. But at the same time, Humanity knows so little about what is happening under water.

In order not to be a financial burden on the founders, Virgin Oceanic also organizes commercial shallow diving and comfortable excursion tours of the seas and oceans.

Business style

Richard Branson has always distinguished himself from the background of other large businessmen with his desire for innovation, the desire to not stop there, as well as the eternal search for new challenges to himself and ways to solve them.

Branson's business is focused on meeting the needs of the client as much as possible, even if the buyer himself does not know what he needs. An example is at least the standby mode when people try to call the customer service of companies from the Virgin corporation. Usually the person who calls there gets on the answering machine and is forced to nervously wait for his turn to talk to the operator. In the case of Virgin, the customer hears Branson's own voice promising him $ 100 in compensation if the operator doesn't get back in ten minutes. As a result, the person, the place to swear, is happily hanging on the line, hoping not to be connected to customer service for as long as possible.

Richard Branson himself loves all kinds of innovations and technical innovations, while trying to introduce the best of them in his business. For example, Virgin Atlantic began using Google Glass smart glasses in its operations. They can be seen at the airport check-in staff as well as flight attendants on some flights. With the help of a camera, this device is able to recognize regular customers, and also enter information about their preferences and interests into the database. And this is to bring customer service to a completely new level.

Sports and records

Like Steve Fossett already mentioned above, Richard Branson strives for adventure and breaking new records all his life. For example, a British businessman was trying to win the Atlantic Blue Ribbon, a prize for the fastest crossing of the ocean in a floating craft. In 1985, this attempt failed, but a year later, Branson did get it.

Richard Branson owns many achievements in hot air ballooning (he thus crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean). The Virgin founder also set the speed record for crossing the English Channel (1 hour 40 minutes and 6 seconds) and many other records to remember.

Charity projects

Richard Branson is also known as one of the world's largest philanthropists and benefactors. He takes an active part in the fight against global warming, the search and implementation of alternative energy and fuel sources. In 2007, his initiative opened the Virgin Health Bank, the first institution in the world where parents can freeze stem cells from a baby's umbilical cord so that they can be used in the future to treat serious diseases.

In 2007, Richard Branson, along with Nelson Mandela, founded The Elders, a group of wealthy and influential individuals who are active in charitable projects and strive to make the world a better, happier and safer place. It includes well-known politicians and social activists, businessmen and philosophers.

Extravagant antics

But most of all, Richard Branson is known to the world for his extravagant behavior. A big businessman is not ashamed to openly fool around and get involved in scandals. So Branson appears in the tabloid chronicle as often, if not more often, than on the pages of Forbes and Businessweek.

For example, during the opening of the Virgin Bride bridal salon, Richard Branson appeared in a bride's dress, and while advertising a soda Virgin Cola, he rode a tank in Times Square in New York and shot a billboard for the Coca-Cola company from it.

Richard Branson skied naked in front of everyone, deliberately doused Princess Diana with champagne, showed the public the underwear of Yvonne Trump, the wife of billionaire Donald Trump, and also served passengers of one of the flights of his own Air Asia airline in a flight attendant suit, after losing a dispute to Malaysian to businessman Tony Fernandez regarding the results of the Virgin Racing racing team in the 2010 Formula 1 season.

But if for other companies and businessmen such behavior would be the beginning of serious problems with the reputation and, therefore, the business itself, then the scandalous antics of Richard Branson only draw attention to him and the Virgin Corporation. The world has learned to forgive the extravagant British billionaire for his antics, admiring this boyish spontaneity.

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson Is an entrepreneur from the UK, the famous founder of the Virgin Corporation, which has dozens of subsidiaries, including music CD stores, a radio station, a publishing house, as well as airline and rail companies. Richard Branson himself has made a name for himself as a very eccentric person, repeatedly trying to set world speed records and organizing his own talk shows.

An application of the London newspaper The Times estimated the state of this man at more than three billion pounds, and Branson himself, back in February 2007, promised to spend no less than this amount on the fight against global warming.

Biography

Branson was born on July 18, 1950 in South London in a maternity hospital called Stonefield Nursing Home Blackheath. Richard's family was the most aristocratic: his grandfather, Sir George Arthur Harin Branson served as a judge of the High Court and was a member of the Privy Council, his father was Edward James Branson, and his mother was Eva Branson, before marriage was Huntley Flindt.

Richard began his education at the Scaitcliffe School, which is now called the Bishopsgate School. The boy could not boast of outstanding academic success, and all because of an annoying ailment that Richard suffered - dyslexia.

But, nevertheless, this did not prevent him, at a very young age, from organizing two enterprises: growing Christmas trees and breeding budgerigars, both of which, however, suffered a complete fiasco.

At the age of 16, Branson dropped out of school and opened his first successful firm in London, Student magazine. A year later, the first charitable organization under his management, the Student Advisory Center, began work.

Recording business

One day, traveling down the English Channel, Richard bought several boxes of audio recordings at a sale that were marked as defective. Upon his return home, he sold them to retail outlets in London. This was the beginning of a large-scale recording business. In 1970, the sale of records was already carried out using the mailing list. Branson's customers had the opportunity to pre-listen to any recording, which became a fundamentally new sale condition, which until that time had not been provided by any similar store.

In addition, in the 1950s and 1960s, retail trade was carried out under special marketing agreements that limited possible discounts on the prices of many products. Branson was able to get those agreements changed for audio recordings, which allowed him to sell music at a fairly significant discount. When the time finally came to think about the name of the new venture, one of Richard's colleagues suggested Virgin, because they were all "virgins" in this new business.

Branson opened his own record store on Oxford Street, from which he managed to earn very decent money. Richard invested the money he received in city real estate, where he opened a recording studio, which he rented out to aspiring musicians, which at one time included multi-instrumentalist Michael Allfield. A little later, Branson, together with Nick Powell, organized a record label called Virgin records.

In 1971, Richard Branson got into serious trouble with English customs. He was accused of selling music recordings that were classified as export goods. In order to settle the matter with customs and the Excise Office, Branson had to pay customs duties and fines that had come up by that time, for which his mother even had to re-mortgage their family home.

The first release released by Virgin Records was Michael Oldfield's Tubular Bells, which sold huge numbers and topped the UK music charts. Branson's company, unlike many others, was not afraid to record the music of such dubious groups as, for example, Sex Pistils.

Virgin Records willingly signed contracts with little-known avant-garde bands, for example, with prominent representatives of the krautrock style - Faust and Can. Virgin invested in a gay nightclub in the early 80s Heaven... And ten years later, Branson, together with David Frost, bought three ITV franchises to work under the CPV-TV name, but they all failed.

In 1992, Branson turned his attention to developing the air travel business. To do this, he needed money, and he decided to sell the Virgin EMI label to a more conservative company, which, incidentally, terminated the contract with the Sex Pistols worth $ 1 million. After the completion of the sale, Richard was very sorry for the decision. After a while, he decided to return to the music business by founding a company V2 Records.

Richard Branson's business ventures

Richard Branson became the founder of many businesses: in 1984 - Virgin atlantic airways, in 1999 - Virgin mobile, in 2000 - Virgin blue in Australia. In the same 2000, he wanted to acquire the National Lottery, but this deal was not completed. In 1997, Branson entered the railroad business, which, according to many, was very, very risky.

He started a company Virgin trains, which won the Intercity and West Coast rural rail franchises for British Rail.

In the beginning, Branson did not skimp on promises of a high-tech level of service in the British Rail Class 390 trains, which were to carry passengers on the new roads. But very soon, Virgin Trains began to experience serious problems with rolling stock, inherited by British Rail, as well as their maintenance.

Branson's company could not ensure the reliability of the train operation, and as a result, its reputation was completely damaged. There were practically no chances to receive contracts for the modernization of the West Coast Main Line and launch new rolling stock on it. Branson also paid attention to the air transportation industry. In 1996, it acquired Euro Belgian Airlines, a European short haul carrier.

Ten years later, it was merged with SN Brussels Airlines. In addition, Branson became the founder of the national airline in Nigeria, which was named Virgin nigeria... And in August 2007, another of his airlines, Virgin America, began operations, making flights in the United States. The versatility of Branson's interests simply knew no bounds. At one time he even developed, albeit not very successfully, brands such as Virgin Cola and Virgin Vodka.

Many of his endeavors were never successful, for which the satirical British magazine Private Eye has repeatedly criticized both Branson himself and his companies.

In 1992, Branson was involved in a serious lawsuit with British Airways over the ownership of the label. Virgin atlantic airways, which was the result of the so-called "dirty tricks" campaign. The proceedings lasted until 1993, when Branson won a resounding victory over his opponents and received as compensation the right to pay 500 thousand pounds sterling personally in his favor and 110 thousand pounds in favor of his airline, as well as the right to legal deductions to totaling up to £ 3 million. Richard called this money a "BA bonus" and split it among his employees. Richard Branson has left his mark in space too. On September 25, 2004, he announced a deal under which his space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, would license the technology to build Spaceship One, a spaceship for the commercial transport of passengers on suborbital space flights.

It is worth noting that Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, was also involved in the creation of this ship, and it was developed by the legendary US aeronautics engineer Bert Ruthan. According to Branson's calculations, space flights should have become generally available by the end of 2009. It was assumed that this pleasure would cost about 200 thousand dollars.

Virgin Fuels - another undertaking by Richard Branson. The goal of this company was to create revolutionary, low-cost fuel for cars and then aircraft. This was done in response to global warming and a sharp rise in fuel prices. As Branson himself later admitted, he was not very interested in such questions, but everything changed after his breakfast with Al Gore, who was able to infect a famous businessman with his ideas.

In the business community, Brason has been nicknamed the "transformation leader" because of the independence of his business strategies. In his work, he fully relies on Virgin group, the development of which is largely determined by informal approaches. All of this provides a fairly solid foundation, as opposed to stifling management strategies from above. At the end of 2006, Richard Branson took the honorable 9th place in the Sunday Times Rich List among people with a fortune of more than 3 billion pounds.

On July 4, 2006, Branson sold his company Virgin mobileproviding broadband Internet access and telephony services. The deal was worth 1 billion pounds. He became the main shareholder of the new company, which, under the terms of the agreement, is required to pay £ 8.5 million annually for the use of the Virgin name. The company was named Virgin media and began its work on February 8, 2007. This event was widely reported in the UK business community and around the world. Branson's stake in Virgin Mobile was 75%, and in new Virgin Media it was reduced to 15%.

In 2006, Richard Branson entered the entertainment industry by founding two companies, Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation. Their goal was to create new stories and new characters that should become known to the whole world. New projects were launched together with the author Deepak Choproy and directed by Shekhar Kapoor. They were also financed by two private entrepreneurs - Sharad Devarajan and Gotam Chopra. Virgin Health Bank began operations on February 1, 2007. With its help, parents-to-be can preserve the umbilical cord blood stem cells of their children in private and public banks.

In June 2006, an antitrust investigation was initiated by the United States and the United Kingdom into an attempt to fix prices by collusion between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. A year later, a decision was made, according to which British Airways was found guilty, which eventually paid a fine of 271 million pounds. Branson's company received immunity for cooperating with authorities.

On February 9, 2007, under the leadership of Richard Branson, the Global Science Technology Prize was established - Virgin earth challenge... The businessman is confident that this will contribute to technological improvements in the interests of all mankind. This $ 25 million prize will be awarded to an individual, or group of individuals, who can develop a commercially viable project to remove anthropogenic atmospheric gases that cause the greenhouse effect.

This technology should allow removing gases from the atmosphere for at least ten years and not have any impact on the environment, having a positive impact on the Earth's climate. Branson stated that the award will be based on the opinions of five world-renowned personalities, each in their respective fields, including Al Gore, Sir Crispin Tickell, Tim Flannery, Jim Hansse and James Lovelock, and their assistant - Steve Howard.

Branson and sports

Richard Branson became involved in football in 2006 when he became a sponsor of the Nuneaton Borough A.F.C.
And in August 2007, he expanded his presence in the aviation business, becoming the owner of 20% of Malaysian AirAsia X.

On October 13, 2007, Branson annexed Northern Rock to his vast empire, taking over 30% of the company. It was immediately renamed to Virgin money... The Daily Mail strongly opposed the completion of the merger. Vince Cable, speaking in the House of Commons, said that tax evasion, as a serious criminal offense, is a good reason not to trust such a person with public money.

January 10, 2008 Virgin healthcare announced the opening of a network of medical clinics that were supposed to provide not only the services of traditional medicine, but also to deal with homeopathy and complementary therapies. Ben Bradshaw, UK Minister of Health, expressed his deep satisfaction, noting that Virgin Healthcare's collaboration with the Department of Health will enable the development and implementation of additional integrated patient services. In March 2009, Branson invested his money in a new Formula 1 team - Brawn GP.

The start turned out to be very successful, which affected the amount of the sponsorship contract. It increased so much that Branson simply did not dare to pay for the second season. Instead, he bought another rookie team, Manor, and renamed it to Virgin F1.

Humanitarian initiatives

In the late 1990s, Richard Branson, Peter Gabriel (musician-activist) and Nelson Mandela came up with the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a small group of leaders who would be completely independent and impartial in resolving global world conflicts.

July 18, 2007 Nelson Mandela, giving a speech in honor of his 89th birthday, announced the creation of a group called The Elders (in translation - elders), which included Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel, Kofi Annan, Ela Butt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter, Lee Zaoxing, Muhammad Yunus, and Branson and Gabriel. This group was to become completely financially independent.

Desmond Tutu is chaired by the Elders, who is responsible for drafting peace resolutions and setting targets in protracted global conflicts that hurt large numbers of people. His experience and wisdom should help him unite voices around the world. After Mandela's speech, the group had to decide within a few months which world conflicts they would have to take part in.

The first competition took place in September 2007 Picnic green challenge with a top prize of $ 500,000 for the best new green initiative. The competition was organized by the Dutch Postcode Lottery and the PICNIC Network, and the jury was chaired by Richard Branson. The first winner of the main prize was Qurrent with Qbox. In March 2008, Richard Branson initiated a meeting on his island in the Caribbean of several famous businessmen, world leaders and simply famous people.

They discussed environmental issues, including global warming. The purpose of this meeting was to start a process, the result of which was to conduct thematic discussions on this issue. The invitees also included Tony Blair (UK Prime Minister), Jimmy Wales (co-founder of Wikipedia) and Larry Page (co-founder of Google).

An attempt at setting world records

In 1998, Branson, along with Fossett and Lindstrand, attempted a hot air balloon flight, which failed miserably in the Pacific on December 25, 1998.

Since 1985, Branson has made several attempts to get the Atlantic Blue Ribbon for the fastest crossing of the Pacific. The first one ended in failure. Then Richard on his ship Virgin atlantic challenger capsized in British waters. Fortunately, the Royal Air Force helicopter made it in time. This event received wide publicity in the world press. Some of the periodicals even came up with an initiative to charge Branson for all the costs associated with the rescue operation.

A year later, Richard made a second attempt, already on the ship Virgin atlantic challenger ii under the command of Daniel McCarthy, a high-profile swimming expert. This time, Branson was lucky. He beat the previous world record by a full two hours.

Another year later, the businessman flew across the Atlantic in his hot air balloon Virgin atlantic flyer, which became the largest hot air balloon in the world and the first hot gas balloon to cross the Atlantic. In January 1991, Richard Branson crossed the Pacific Ocean in an even larger hot air balloon, covering a distance of 10.8 thousand kilometers. with a record speed of 392 km per hour.

In March 2004, Branson crossed the English Channel the fastest in the world, spending 1 hour 40 minutes and 6 seconds. The previous record was as much as 6 hours.

In September 2008, Branson, along with his son, decided to set a new record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the Virgin Money boat, which was 30 meters long. The boat was caught in a storm, lost its sail and was forced to land in Bermuda.

Television, film and publishing

Branson has been invited more than once as an actor who, in most cases, played himself.

The audience remembered him for such projects as Friends, Malibu Rescuers, One Field of Berry, Fools Are Lucky, Today, and also in episodes in comedies Merciful and Stumbling. In the 90s, he appeared several times on the BBC Saturday morning show, portraying the "pickleman" from the hit comedy Trevor and Simon.

Branson became the main character on the Fox reality show Millionaire Rebel in 2004, where several people had to show their enterprise and fortitude as best they could. The audience did not have much success with this show and it all ended in only one season. Richard Branson's fame has a downside - he is constantly the target of ridicule.

Those interested can find many comics in which Branson is the main character. For example, one of the 2000 AD series released by Zenith portrays Branson as a global villain. In the TV series The Simpsons, you can also see a caricature of this famous businessman. The episode is titled "Monty Can't Buy My Love." It portrays Richard as tycoon Arthur Fortune and megalomaniac balloonist Richard Cutney in Belief in Nothing. The famous writer Terry Pratchett in his book "Wings" used the figure of Branson as the prototype for one of the heroes - Grandson Richard. We may or may not like the lifestyle, projects, ideas of Richard Branson, but we cannot deny that this person lives an interesting, full of events. Branson leaves a mark on this planet, making all his wildest dreams and intentions come true. And it's worth a lot ...

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (Richard Charles Nicholas Branson) - British businessman, owner of a multi-billion dollar organization Virgin groupwhich manages over 400 companies in various fields.

As Wikipedia says about Richard Branson, he is one of the richest people in England.

The content of the article :

Richard Branson's fortune

Richard Branson's fortune is estimated at more than $ 5 billion, he is one of the richest men in England. Branson owns his own island Necker in the British Virgin Islands, where he lives today.

He owns a yacht Necker belle and submarine Necker nymph... The businessman also has real estate on the Caribbean island. Branson currently manages many companies under the brand Virgin group.

In addition, new organizations and branches are formed every year. Among them:

Richard Branson's biography

The future talented entrepreneur was born on July 18, 1950. in the city of Blackheath, in the family of the native aristocrat Edward James Branson and flight attendant Yvette Flindt.

Edward failed in the field of law, and Yvette, leaving her career and dreams of heaven, raised four children and took on any job available. Richard had vision problems, he could not learn to read for a long time.

At school, the boy was treated badly - they thought he was mentally retarded. Then his mother came to grips with raising her son. She gave him challenging tasks to combat the boy's dyslexia.

Richard attended boarding school Scaitcliffe for boys in the village of Egham, then went to the boarding school Stowe, which was located in Buckinghamshire.

Studying was very difficult for Richard, he had no interest in classes, so at the age of 16 he decided to leave school and go into business.

Together with his close friend Nick, Richard tried to bring his first projects to life. They raised and sold Christmas trees, caught and sold rabbits to the butcher, and bred parrots.

Richard Branson's business history

The first serious business that Richard took up was the release of his own magazine Student... Together with their friend Johnny, the teenagers decided to create a publication for students. The idea was relevant - at that time young people were interested in social life, fought for their rights and expanded the range of opportunities.

In addition, schoolchildren were interested in these topics, which increased the client base several times. Richard converted his school room into an office, from a nearby telephone booth he called advertisers, points of sale and publishers in the hope of finding sponsors.

Childhood friend Nick joined the friends and promised to distribute the magazine in Amplefort. The guys found an advertiser who signed a check for £ 240, and renowned illustrator Gerald Scarfe made drawings for the magazine. The first issue of Student magazine appeared in January 1968, after Branson had graduated.

The magazine began to spread quickly, it was actively bought by students and schoolchildren, but the costs did not pay off, and there were fewer and fewer advertising requests. Then the project had to be closed, but the young entrepreneur did not lose heart and took up a new business.

Branson opened a student center " Student Advisory Center". It employed specialists in psychology, legal sciences and doctors. Unfortunately, things were not going well - it was difficult to advertise the company, at that time it was forbidden to use the expression “ venereal diseases».

Due to the fact that the office was in a residential building, inspectors constantly came with checks. In addition, Richard had a falling out with his friend Nick, who had his own views on how the company was run. Nick went out of business, and Richard was on fire with a new idea.

Virgin Richard Branson

A young promising businessman opened a record store. At the very beginning, the goods were sent by mail. Branson chose the name narrowly - Slipped Disc (« Sliding disc"), But at another party, a girl gave Branson the idea to name the company (" Virgin"). This name was to Richard's liking.

Score Virgin mail order enjoyed immense popularity among music lovers. The entrepreneur could not cope on his own, so he called his friend Nick to the rescue and he became the owner of 40% of the company.

In 1971, postal workers went on strike in England. The records were not sent to customers, so Branson opened a real store.

There was no money for rent, so the comrades persuaded the owner of a shoe store on Oxford Street to rent out the premises to them on the pretext that the buyers of the records would borrow new shoes and shoes along the way.

Richard Branson's business flourished... Customers of the store could come and listen to records for free in comfortable chairs, but sales soon fell sharply. Guests came to “ hang out”, But few people actually bought records.

Branson was sure that a good income can be obtained by combining creativity and business. He decided to start a record company. The entrepreneur bought a country estate in Shipton-on-Chervil and began to invite musicians there to record songs.

The house was worth 35 thousand pounds - he borrowed 20 thousand from the bank, his parents gave him part, and he received part from his aunt, who had to mortgage the house for this. The studio began work, but Branson did not know anything about the work, so his cousin Simon Draper, who was well versed in music, moved in with him.

The first musician to captivate audiences with Virgin Records was instrumentalist Michael Oldfield.

Branson and Draper believed in the musician's potential and settled him in a cottage. Oldfield's first record " Tubular bells»1973 topped the UK music charts with over 20 million copies sold. Also a punk band was recorded at the studio Sex Pistols and a young performer Sting.

Small record stores were closing, but Branson's firm Virgin mega storeselling music and films thrived.

Things were going well in the music field when Branson surprised all of his relatives and colleagues with the idea of \u200b\u200bstarting an airline. The businessman ran into debt and rented a Boeing jet.

The first demonstration flight was unsuccessful - the plane's engine flared up. Branson had to reimburse expenses, but the check from the company MGM for 6 million pounds solved all financial problems.

Sir Richard Branson began to think about how to get the company to market. Moreover, the main competitor of the businessman was a real giant of air travel British airways.

In the first year of Virgin Airlines' existence, all expenses were paid off. Sales grew, new directions were opened.

Branson's 40 rules of success in a fun video

Personal life and family of Richard Branson

Back when Virgin was founded, Richard married his girlfriend Kristen Tomassi, but the marriage was short - the girl could not bear the constant calls and employment of the beginning business tycoon.

The entrepreneur's second wife is Joan Templemen (Joan templeman). They met in an antique store - at that time his future wife was married to another man. Year Branson courted Joan, in the end she gave up and left her husband.

Lovers got married, they live happily even now. In 1979, the couple had a daughter, Claire Sarah, but she died 4 days after birth.

The beloved did not despair and did not give up trying to have children. A year later, they became happy parents of their daughter Holly, and after another 4 years a son appeared Sam... The billionaire's daughter is a pediatrician and runs a film production firm. Currently, the genius entrepreneur and his wife are doing well.

Sir Richard Branson has three wonderful grandchildren, they have known princes since childhood William and Harry - Richard was good with their mother Diana.

Sir Richard Branson is a simple, not arrogant man. He does not pay more than 15 pounds for wine, dresses in ordinary shops, until recently he lived in a modest floating house. Once billionaire Richard Branson was in Moscow - there he spoke at the Synergy forum in the Olympic. For him, the most important thing is to get joy from work, only then profit.

The businessman's motto: "Live rejoicing, work from the heart, and the money will come by itself."

Richard Branson has an Instagram @richardbranson - where he posts various photographs from life.

Richard Branson's books

Crazy antics as a business advertisement

1. At the time of Student magazine's release, Richard deceived journalists to fuel their interest in his business. During the interview, the teens answered fake calls, pretending to be talking to celebrities. This trick worked - reporters were surprised and took additional interest in Branson's brainchild.
2. The president of the company came to the presentation of the Virgin Bride bridal salon with makeup and a wedding dress.
3. During one of the social events, the businessman took by the legs and turned over Ivana Trump, the wife of the current President of America Donald Trump. He did this in order, according to him, to keep the conversation going.
4. To promote the Virgin Cola carbonated beverage brand in America, Richard rode down Times Square in a real tank, firing a couple of shots at a Coca-Cola billboard. True, the drink was never allowed to enter the American market.
5. Richard once skied completely naked. Significantly, he tried to find someone to bet on to do it. Such a person was not found, but the businessman still decided on a desperate act.
6. Princess Diana was at the event dedicated to the new Virgin Atlantic liner. Branson opened the champagne and doused the girl. Diana didn't get angry, she just laughed back.
7. On the 21st birthday of the Virgin corporation, the entrepreneur persuaded Pamela Anderson to show the rest of the guests breasts.
8. In 2009, Branson took part in a photo shoot with model Danny Parkinson. The girl was completely naked, and the businessman was holding her on her back.
9. The legendary businessman once served the passengers of his airline on his own. Branson reincarnated as a flight attendant and performed all staff duties on the Perth-Kuala Lumpur flight. And all because he lost in a dispute with the director of AirAsia, Tony Fernandez - they were deciding whose performance would be higher in the Formula 1 Constructors' Cup.

Scandalous photo session with Danny Parkinson for Vanity Fair magazine.

Success secrets

The entrepreneur is sure that luck does not come by itself, it is necessary to work on it. Richard was never afraid to take risks, putting every last pound on a potentially successful business, but choosing a sensible strategy. Branson is convinced: “Throughout our lives, we constantly take risks, whether in relationships with loved ones or with business partners.” Branson has a high status in the business world, but he is not afraid to become a target for satirical statements. Its slogan is “ live fun and money will come».

Greetings! Sometimes people are born without the word “impossible” in their lexicon. They make millions, do crazy things, set world records and ... teach others to do this.

Personally, Richard Branson reminds me of another billionaire adventurer: Elon Musk.

Here is an incomplete list of Branson's "talking" nicknames: "knight cleansing business from dirt", "hippie billionaire", "nail in the boot of big business" and "master of outrageous".

In my opinion, he is one of the most interesting and outstanding personalities of our time. Please love and respect! Richard Branson: biography, achievements, records and shocking.

Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (full name of the billionaire) was born in London in 1950 to a lawyer and a former flight attendant. And although Richard comes from the noble class (his grandfather was a judge of the High Court and a member of the Privy Council), the boy was raised, to put it mildly, unconventionally.

In his books, Branson often brings up an eerie story. When he was four years old, his mother gave him his first "quest with an asterisk." The boy had to find his way home on his own. The "kind" mother dropped the child a couple of kilometers away and ... quietly left. It took four-year-old Branson several hours to complete the "assignment".

At school, the future billionaire studied so-so. Learning Problems Adult Richard explained dyslexia (problems with writing).

Even in his youth, Branson more than compensated for poor grades with a fountain of entrepreneurial ideas and inventions. He suggested that the director transform the school cafeteria into a buffet, organize a bar for high school students and abolish the requirement for students to attend football matches.
At the prom, the director told Richard that he would either become a millionaire or go to jail. And how he looked into the water.

Towards the first million

Richard Branson considers his first successful project to be the free youth magazine Student. At that time, the future billionaire was only 18 years old. In a couple of months, he managed to bring the magazine to payback from scratch (through advertising) and negotiate publications with such “stars” as Mick Jagger and John Lennon.

Unfortunately, the magazine stayed afloat for just over a year. But Richard Branson has gained invaluable experience.

Branson's next major project was based on the idea of \u200b\u200bselling popular recordings by mail (1970). The strange name Virgin is said to have been coined by one of Richard's many girlfriends. True, the name has nothing to do with sex. It's just that Branson's colleagues considered themselves real "virgins in business."

A year later, Richard, along with school friend Nick Powell, opened a record store on Oxford Street. With the money from the sale of the recordings, Branson bought the estate. A little later, friends equipped a Virgin Records recording studio there for renting out to aspiring musicians.

In 1973, it was on Virgin Records that the debut album Tubular Bells was recorded by the young multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. The crazy success of the album (Grammy awards, millions of copies and the first lines in the UK charts) brought Virgin Records good luck ... and a lot, a lot of money.

Other business areas

In 1984, Richard Branson took up air travel. His company Virgin Atlantic Airlines carries passengers, cargo and mail. Branson's next airline was Virgin Blue in Australia. Branson's group also includes Virgin Nigeria (Nigeria's national airline) and Virgin Express (short-haul flights).

In 1997, Richard decided to move the big players in the railroad business as well. In the giant "empire" of the Virgin Group, another company appeared - Virgin Trains. The company's trains still run between London, Scotland and North Wales.

In 1999, Branson launched a completely new project. Virgin Mobile is a mobile operator in several countries: Australia, Canada, UK, USA, France and others. The highlight of Virgin Mobile is that the company does not have its own cellular network. It uses the networks of other operators.

Sir Richard currently owns companies in a variety of industries: book publishing, fitness chain, online games, radio station, finance, medicine and a couple of other businesses.

Richard Branson records

Since 1985, the crazy businessman has repeatedly tried to break world records. Initially, he planned to cross the Atlantic Ocean faster than anyone else in a Virgin Atlantic Challenger boat. In British waters, the ship capsized - the crew was rescued by a helicopter of the British Air Force.

A year later, Richard Branson still broke the world record by two hours. True, already on a different vessel and under the command of a sailing expert.

In early 1991, he crossed the Pacific Ocean in a hot air balloon hot air balloon. He covered the distance of 10,800 km (from Japan to Canada) at a speed of 392 km / h.

In the spring of 2004, Branson switched to the English Channel. In amphibious vehicles, he traveled from Dover to Cape in 1 hour and 40 minutes. The previous record was 6 hours ...

Richard Brandon - writer and actor

Branson has often played himself in the series. As a guest star, he has appeared on the series Friends, Lucky Fools, Confused and Rescuers Malibu. Several times he was called on Saturday's BBC comedy show, where he played the role of the "pickled man."

Richard Branson is often parodied and used as prototype heroes. In the 2000 AD comic book series, he is portrayed as a supervillain. There is a parody of him in two episodes of the popular The Simpsons. In Terry Pratchett's "Wings" one of the characters is also copied from Branson.

Well, and of course, our hero could not help but try himself in the role of a writer. His book “To hell with everything! Take it and do it! " for many years it has been included in the TOP-10 of motivating literature. In addition to her, he wrote a couple more autobiographies and business books: "Losing Innocence", "Naked Business" and "Business in the Virgin Style".

Each of his books can be taken apart for quotes. For example: “To achieve something in this world, you have to aim at the impossible” (book “Reach Heaven”).

Outrageous master

Richard Branson has been called the most eccentric billionaire. At the presentation of the Virgin Bride bridal salon, he appeared in full make-up and ... in a wedding dress. Funny photos have been on the covers of magazines for a long time☺.

To draw attention to the cellular operator Virgin Mobile, the billionaire climbed onto a construction crane and waved his mobile phone completely naked from there for half an hour. Finished illustration for the book "Nude Business".

Despite all his shocking, Richard Branson is married "only" the second time. Joan Templeman's wife bore him two children: a son, Sam, and a daughter, Holly.

Instead of a conclusion

In 2017, the fortune of Richard Branson was estimated at $ 5.1 billion. He is one of those people whom you truly admire. After all, there are not so many “boring” billionaires in the world. His adventures and crazy deeds would be enough for the biography of hundreds of people! He lives by his own rules and denies any conventions and stereotypes.

By the way, in September 2017, Forbes released the anniversary issue of the magazine. It includes stories and advice from the most influential people on the planet. Guess if the hero of today's post is in the top hundred?

Richard Branson one of the brightest and most successful representatives of the world business, the founder of the Virgin corporation, which united more than two hundred companies of completely different profiles (stores selling music discs, air and railway companies, a radio station and a publishing house) in 30 countries of the world. No one really knows how many firms are actually managed by the Virgin Group: 200, 300 ... and maybe all 400! Rumor has it that even Richard Branson himself is not able to give an answer, how many realized business ideas are under the wing of his multibrand. However, the charm of his business lies not in the quantity, but in the quality of the services provided.

Richard Branson interesting person known to the general public for her non-standard actions, including creating her own talk show and repeated attempts to break world speed records. As soon as he is not called: a hippie billionaire, a master of outrageousness, a nail in the boot of big business, his boyfriend with a velvet glove on an iron hand, a robber, a pirate, a knight cleansing the business of dirt, and even a walking logo.

Success Story, Biography of Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on July 18, 1950 in the town of Blackheath near London in the family of a hereditary English aristocrat Edward James Branson. He grew up in a close-knit family and was the eldest of four children. Richard Branson's ancestors were very wealthy people. Only Richard's father was unable to maintain this family tradition. After several failed exams at Eton College for health reasons, Edward Branson never entered the bar. Instead, he suddenly became engaged to a flight attendant, thereby turning his entire family against him.

Yvette Flint, Richard's mother, was a flamboyant woman who loved adventurous adventures. She always dreamed of working in aviation, but at that time the way to the sky was closed for women. A little trick and she still managed to become a pilot, disguised as a man, and a little later she already worked as a flight attendant on international airlines, while not knowing foreign languages \u200b\u200band having no medical education. Her career advancement was ruined by her marriage to Edward Branson. After Edward did not become a lawyer and the family began to be in dire need of money, Yvette had to work tirelessly. She weaved baskets, weaved carpets, decorated packing boxes for sale while looking after four children.

Childhood and adolescence of Richard Branson

IN biographies of Richard Branson and in his development as a person, much of the credit goes to his mother, Mrs Branson. Since the birth of his son, Ivet's heart suggested that something was wrong with him: since childhood, Richard's coordination of movements was severely impaired, it was often impossible to really make out what he was saying, letters and numbers for him were devoid of any meaning. Subsequently, doctors diagnosed me with myopia and dyslexia. It is not uncommon for people with dyslexia to learn to read and write throughout their lives, but Yvette did not give up and diligently continued to raise her son adapted to real life.

From time to time, the mother arranged survival tests for young Richard: he had to go there, I don't know where, and bring something, I don't know what, and as a rule, he succeeded. When Branson was only four years old, she dropped him out of the car a few miles from home: “ Run to us, little one. Look for dad”. The little one found him in the evening.

When he was 11, she woke her son up early in January morning, rolled out her bike, put an apple and some sandwiches in a bag (Richard had to get the water himself) and sent him 50 miles to a nearby town to visit relatives. Growing up, Richard painted his odyssey in colors - here he, who did what he was told, proud and tired, returned home, and his mother smiled and said: Well done, Ricky! Was it fun? Run to the priest: we need to chop wood for him, I promised that you will be there any minute". Mrs Branson was confident that one day her son would become Prime Minister, and did everything so that he did not blunder when he had to climb. She had no doubt that her child could do anything - the Flindts family had very strong genes.

Everything was fine until Richard went to school. The Bransons belonged to the noble class, and among them it was always customary to send children to closed educational institutions - they cost a lot of money, but they gave an excellent education and tempered character for the rest of their lives, therefore decision making process was not long. A lot of sports, classes in Greek and Latin, and legalized by a centuries-old tradition, periodic flogging - those who with honor passed the test of a privileged English school were no longer afraid. For Branson, who suffered from dyslexia (in patients with dyslexia, coordination is impaired, letters and numbers are meaningless for them - it is very difficult to teach such a child to read and count) study turned into torture.

At first, he was mistaken for a clinical idiot - only after a few semesters, the teachers realized that the child was short-sighted. Richard's glasses were fitted, he could finally make out what was written on the blackboard, but the letters and numbers still did not make sense. He was saved by the fact that he was the captain of three school teams at once - he was forgiven a lot for his successes in football and rugby. But then Branson broke his leg and instantly found himself in a school for retarded students. There they began to flog him every day. They beat him because he could not read, because he did not know what the area of \u200b\u200bthe circle was, because the ball flew into a flower bed, for an improperly made bed and unclean shoes - the students quickly got used to the idea that they would beat in any case. A year later, Richard Branson developed the quality that any karateka dreams of: he stopped paying attention to strikes. Richard was flogged, and he politely thanked for the work of the teacher wiping off the sweat.

First Steps in Business and Student Magazine

Branson's first business ventures were unsuccessful. First, Richard and a friend named Nick tried to grow trees and sell them on the eve of Christmas. But nothing worked, since all the shoots were eaten by the rabbits. It should be noted that Branson managed to get revenge on the rabbits. Nick and Richard arranged a real hare hunt, and even shot several, eventually selling their carcasses to a butcher shop for 800 pounds (this was significantly less than they planned to earn from the Christmas trees).

Branson's second entrepreneurial experience was in the parrot trade. The birds turned out to be a real gold mine. Branson Sr. built an aviary, and the parrots began to breed like rabbits. Richard supplied them to the whole town, and the goods were added. Soon he returned to school, and his mother wrote to him that the parrots had been eaten by rats that climbed into the enclosure. In fact, she set them free - the parrots ate too much and screamed too loudly. Richard did not think long about the sad bird's fate - he had a real business.

In 1966, Branson and his school friend decided that it was time for a serious start your business and create a "Student" journal. Richard came to the idea of \u200b\u200borganizing his own magazine after a series of letters to the headmaster of Stowe School (in which he studied at that time) on how to reform the structure of the school itself. Ideas, I must say, were not bad, for example, Branson did not want to attend the matches of the school football team, as he himself could not play, and "watching others succeed" was extremely painful for him. In addition, he believed that the school cafeteria should be converted into a buffet, as this would help the school save money on staff. At the same time, he advocated the abolition of the ban on any kind of conversation during lunch. Well, Branson also described the idea of \u200b\u200ba bar for sixth graders ...

I must say that these ideas were not compiled by Richard alone, but with his friend Johnny, who also studied at Stowe. The headmaster advised the children to describe all this in the school newspaper, but even then Branson and his friend began to think about their magazine for students.

The magazine was originally conceived as an alternative to the Stow School newspaper. But in the end Johnny and Richard decided to do more. They wanted to make Student a magazine for all students in England. Why students? After all, the original idea was to make the magazine an alternative to Stow's school newspaper. Well, firstly, Branson thought that if you make a magazine for students, then high school students will also be interested in it, and if you do it only for students, albeit high school, then students will not read it anyway. It's simple.

Richard then compiled a list of about 25 advertisers, MPs, and sent a letter to WH Smith asking if it would like to sell a student magazine on its networks. The time was just right for such a publication. Students stood up for rights, freedom and, in general, quite actively participated in the public life of the country.

Branson's main activity, at that time, was calling potential advertisers, publishers and distribution networks. Richard turned his school room into an office. However, the director of the school refused Branson's request to put a phone in his room. So Richard had to make all the calls from the phone booth. Expensive ... However, Branson quickly found a solution that allowed him to make free calls. He just called the phone company and said that his call fell through. He was connected free of charge, and the telephone operator said, as if she were his secretary: "Mr. Branson will talk to you." Richard loved it. He was 15 years old.

Things were getting worse and worse for Branson at school, but the situation with the magazine was diametrically opposite. In the beginning, most of the potential advertisers turned down Branson. But he found a fairly effective solution. For example, Richard called the Coca-Cola Company and said that Pepsi had already advertised on Student. It worked. He also used a win-win tactic, asking this question: “ Are you interested in hiring the best graduates of universities and schools? ". Branson's answer was always yes. " In this case, we publish a magazine just for you."He continued.

By making all these calls and negotiating with advertisers, Student magazine has never been published, only Richard and his friend Johnny worked on it. If Branson had a clear business plan, he would never have taken up this adventure, but he was only 15, and so he did not even think about failure. During school holidays, Richard met with his childhood friend Nick (with whom he traded parrots and Christmas trees) and told everything about the magazine. Nick said he would help and decided to distribute it in Amplefort.

Johnny and Richard have been working on the magazine for over a year. During this time they sent out a lot of letters, but there was still no result. Probably, most people would just give up this venture and focus on their studies, in which Branson was doing worse than at that time.

Ultimately, the first advertiser was found, and Branson and a partner received a check for £ 250. Moreover, famed artist Gerald Scarfe has done several illustrations for the magazine (he is the author of the cover of Pink Floyed's "The Wall" album, and also the cartoonist of Hercules, created by Walt Disney Studios).

In 1967, Richard graduated from high school. The parting words of the director of Staw School were: "Branson, I guarantee you either go to jail or become a millionaire!".

In January 1968, the first issue of Student magazine was published.

The magazine quickly gained popularity, especially considering that it regularly featured interviews with the idols of young people of those years, among which the young Mick Jagger and John Lennon should be singled out. The magazine was distributed through word of mouth, as well as with the help of a large number of distributors who gave half of their proceeds to the magazine itself. It was a scheme that could really interest the sellers, one might even say that it was to some extent "cost accounting", a business process in which everyone participated. Distributors, loners, also had their own business, they distributed Student, and it was how well they did it that depended on how much money they made.

Ad slots for the magazine were hard to come by, and it was becoming clear to Branson that Student was not paying off. Even despite the flattering reviews in the press, the magazine did not become a serious source of income. By the way, about the press. Richard and Johnny organized communication with the journalists who came to Student in an interesting way to understand what was causing such a fuss (yes, the magazine was popular). When the journalists sat down for a dialogue with Richard, the bell rang. Johnny answered the phone and then announced: “ Richard, you Mick Jagger (or who else) to the phone". After that, Branson answered the phone and started a dialogue with his opponent. It usually sounded like this: “ Yes, that's a great idea, let's meet". After that, Branson ended the conversation, sat down in front of the journalist, and then several more calls from "celebrities" were heard, but Branson yelled at Johnny to tell him that Richard would call them back later. Ultimately, the journalists came out dumbfounded from the reception. If such stars call Student ... Of course, no one called. These were fake calls to impress journalists.

A year later, the journal "Student" was closed due to difficulties in its distribution. Publishing the magazine was not a profitable business, but it was invaluable in terms of the experience gained.

For Richard Branson this was not a blow, since in parallel, under the auspices of the magazine, there was already a new business - consulting center for young people called "Student Advisory Center". Its creation was very helpful. At that time, the hippie movement was fashionable and the ideology of "free love" reigned, and therefore people were seriously worried about the wide spread of sexually transmitted diseases and drugs among young people. The guys who used to work in the editorial office of the magazine now acted as lawyers, psychologists, couriers and doctors for drug addicts, alcoholics, expectant mothers. This charitable organization still exists today.

Richard's working day was quite interesting at the time - “ Lying on my bed, I talked with young people or advertisers, and in between I had sex with my friends. This was normal, since at that time the ideology of "free love" and the hippie movement dominated. In addition, the company employed one youth».

There were also problems, since the company's office was located in a residential building, the constant checks by inspectors burdened the work. In addition, the consulting firm's advertisements were at risk because they contained the word “sexually transmitted diseases,” which at the time could not be used in advertisements. Finally, Richard had a conflict with longtime friend and partner Nick. He wanted to "hook" Branson, as he believed that he was leading the company to the bottom. As a result, Nick left the magazine, but Branson remained his friend. Nick would later become an important Virgin employee.

At this time, young people were increasingly interested in music. It was in music that students' protest was best traced. Therefore, Richard Branson decided to do it.

Record Sales Business

To begin with, Branson and a small group of associates decided to mail out the records. The original name for the company was Slipped Disc. Everything would be fine, but only this name was clearly associated with the music industry, and even then Richard Branson wanted to have one name under which all his future projects would go (did he think that there would be so many of them!?) Discussing the name of the company once again among the Student staff, Branson received an offer from one of the girls to name the company "Virgin". Virgin was born.

Virgin Mail Order Records quickly became popular. Firstly, it was promoted by advertising in the still coming out magazine Student, and secondly, the prices for records sent by mail were lower than in stores. Nevertheless, the growth of the business made it clear to Richard that he could not cope with all this alone (most of the employees worked for the company temporarily, usually for a month or two). The main problem was that Branson did not particularly like and knew how to keep track of finances, and therefore he turned to his old friend Nick. He agreed, eventually receiving a 40% stake in Virgin Mail Order Records.

If 1970 was a successful year for the Virgin Mail Order, then the next one is almost disastrous, since in 1971 there was a strike of British postal workers. It was then that Nick and Richard decided to open their first store selling music records. There was not much time to open the store, as the money was running out, and the postal workers were not going to go to work. After a long search for a place for a store, they took the second floor of a shoe store on Oxford Street. There was no money to pay for his rent, so he had to go to some tricks. Nick convinced the landlord, who ran his shoe store on the ground floor, that the crowd that went to their music store would buy shoes on the way to his. I must say that there really was a crowd, but no one bought shoes.

The first Virgin store itself became the perfect haven for rock music lovers. Branson specially placed pillows in it on which visitors could lie while listening to new hits (they were expected to buy the record later). Despite strong initial sales, they soon fell sharply. I had to change the style of the store. In the first version, too many visitors came to just listen to music and chat, which disturbed real customers. However, after the changes, sales began to rise again.

Recording business

The music business is tricky. A fusion of art and business, to be more precise. And the main money in it revolves not at all around shops and concerts, but around record companies. Richard Branson understood this, and therefore decided to open his own. The idea was this: to buy a country house where musicians can come to record their creations as much as they need. There, no one will be able to interfere with them, and far from the bustle of the city, they will be able to truly focus on music. Together with Virgin employee Tom Newman, Richard chose an estate in Shipton-on-Chervil, at the cost of 35 thousand pounds. True, in the end, Branson managed to negotiate with the seller for 30 thousand, provided that all the money would be paid immediately. Of course, Branson didn't have that kind of money. I had to go to the Couts bank. Before that, the Couts used to see Richard dressed loosely, but this time he was in a suit, which means that things are going really badly. The bank decided. However, the sales reports for Virgin Mail Order and the company's store have been good. The bank pledged Branson 20,000 as collateral. It remained to find another 10. 2.5 thousand Branson received from his parents. They set aside this amount for each of their children, and planned to hand it over upon reaching the age of 30. But in this situation, Richard received this money earlier.

The remaining 7,500 were lent to him by his Aunt Joyce (he later learned that she had mortgaged her house for this!) The estate was bought. A gradual transformation into a recording studio began. Despite the rapid development, Branson was completely in debt. In addition to $ 30,000 for the estate, the company had $ 5,000 in debt for the store.

In 1971 Richard Branson will inadvertently try to smuggle records, never fully realizing that it is illegal. He needed to make only three raids to close all debts, but fortune this time was not on his side. He was arrested and charged with selling records in Virgin stores that were declared as export goods. A criminal case against Branson was never opened, he was released on bail of his parents' house. This was the first and last time he broke the law.

In 1971, Branson's cousin Simon Draper came to London. This man was well versed in music, as no one knew all modern trends and albums of almost every artist. He was a godsend for Virgin.

The first million of Virgin Records was brought by a young British composer, instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Branson was simply fascinated by this either a rock musician or a ragamuffin from London streets. He settled him in Mayonor in his own recording studio. Oldfield's debut album "Tubular Bells", released in 1973, has long been at the top of the UK charts. Virgin Records sold over twenty million copies of the album, and the proceeds fed the company for another three years. This success prompted Richard to think that he has every opportunity to "light" new superstars himself. Another find for Richard was the notorious punk band Sex Pistols, and in 1978 he opened the world to a young performer who soon became known under the pseudonym Sting. There were also successful collaborations with such artists as Janet Jackson, Boy George, Phil Collins, Paul Abdul, Peter Gabriel, Belinda Carlisle, Rolling Stones and others.

As for the record stores, the situation became more complicated and in the end most of them were sold. Branson left behind only the so-called Virgin Mega Store. Huge stores selling music and films (still open today).

Over time, Richard Branson wanted to create a diversified company out of Virgin. Since the early 1980s, a network of "virgin" companies began to envelop the world, step by step. 1983 saw the emergence of new companies such as Virgin Vision (motion pictures), Virgin Developments (retail and real estate, development on this topic) and Virgin Games (computer games). In addition, Virgin becomes the owner of the Venue nightclub. All of these companies were quite small and were only a small part of the Virgin consortium, whose heart was music. But Richard Branson is not one of those people who stop there. Therefore, he decided to found his own airline.

Virgin atlantic airlines

Establish your own airline. This is a rather costly and difficult undertaking. Virgin, at that time, had a fairly good financial performance. But, in fact, it was a merit of the company's music business. Neither clubs, nor hotels, did not bring serious income. Richard Branson himself has long been occupied with all thoughts by the airline. In order to found Virgin Airlines, Branson had to run into serious debt. In addition, Richard's relationship with his cousin Simon seriously deteriorated, as he was against this venture. This is understandable, since Simon was the driving force behind Virgin's music business and did not want to work to pay off another company's debts. Moreover, such as Virgin Airlines, which intends to run a very expensive business.

Despite the fact that none of Branson's closest associates supported him, the decision was made. Virgin rented a Boeing jet for a year, on the condition that if the business does not go well, then it can safely return it.

When everything was ready, Virgin Airlines needed to arrange a demonstration flight for the Flight Operations officials. The flight was not very successful, as the engine caught fire due to the fact that the Virgin plane flew into a flock of birds. Had to buy a new engine for £ 600,000. As a result, after this payment, Virgin exceeded the bank limit by 300 thousand pounds. True, the company was waiting for a check from MGM for 6 million pounds, which more than covered all the costs.

In Great Britain, the main competitor of all airlines is the legendary British Airways, a monster that prefers to crush competitors in the bud. And that's exactly what they tried to do with Virgin. The methods used by Lord King (BA president) were, to put it mildly, not sporting. Among them, it is worth noting defamation, blatant lies, insults, unfair competition, when BA representatives called Virgin customers and informed them that their flight was canceled, but they could fly at a discount on BA aircraft (while BA representatives presented themselves as Virgin Atlantic managers). All of these and many other nasty things from a reputable company led to the fact that Richard Branson went to court. Virgin won the case.

But to survive, Virgin Airlines needed to differentiate itself favorably from the leader. For this, a number of measures were taken: business class passengers were brought in a limousine directly to the airport, while on a Virgin Airlines flight, passengers were massaged. Gradually, the company began to receive more and more new routes for flights. Virgin Atlantic became self-sufficient in its first year. However, the airline will cause many more problems for the Virgin Group. Ultimately, in order to jump-start (and just not lose her), Virgin will sell its cash cow Virgin Music to Thorn Emi in 1992 for $ 1 billion. At the same time, Richard Branson remained president of Virgin Music, but rather for show.

In addition to struggling in the air travel market in the 1980s, Virgin buys a stake in a five-star hotel in Deye, Mallorca. This will be the beginning of the company's hospitality business. At the same time, Virgin Vision will distribute films throughout Europe, Asia, the United States and Australia. Virgin will also turn its attention to the travel business. Virgin Holidays, a travel company specializing in the United States, will be established in the 1980s. In 1987 Virgin Records opened in the USA and Japan (the latter was especially successful). In the early 90s, Virgin Books (books about rock stars) and Virgin Publishing (publishing) will appear. In addition, Virgin starts broadcasting a number of satellite TV channels. Virgin Atlantic's profits will double in 1989. It will be 10 million pounds.

When the situation with Virgin Atlantic returns to normal in the mid-90s, the company will begin to think about new heights. Richard Branson gets the idea for a Virgin High Speed \u200b\u200bRailroad across the UK. And in 1997 his ideas and thoughts will come true, another dream of Richard Branson will come true - this is how the railway operator Virgin Trains appears.

In 1993 Virgin Radio began broadcasting on the AM band. In a year, broadcasting will switch to the FM band. At that time, the company will have over 4 million listeners. Virgin Television opens in addition to radio. And in 1994 Richard Branson creates Virgin Drinks(the beverage industry) and dares to challenge the leaders in the soft drink industry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, his Virgin Cola product will soon be recognized as the best British soft drink, and his other product Virgin Vodka will be able to conquer a significant part of the British market.

Virgin Group will open an incredible number of companies of various profiles, among which special attention should be paid to: Virgin cars(car sale online), Virgin wines (internet wine sale), Virgin mobile (mobile operator), Virgin active(a network of fitness centers), Virgin fuels(investment company), Virgin Baloon flight(hot air balloon operator), Virgin brides(bridal clothes), Virgin comics(making comics), Virgin flowers(online retail flower trade), Virgin life care(healthcare), Virgin Cosmetics (jewelry and cosmetics online), Virgin digital (online music store), Virgine unite(non-profit charitable foundation), Virgin racing(Formula 1 racing team), Virgin interactive (British video game publisher), Virgin galactic(space tour operator) and much, much more. Agree - impressive! Branson never asked questions what is a franchise and how to choose a franchise, he did all his companies from scratch.

In addition to business, Branson pays a lot of attention to charity, tries to contribute to the protection of the environment. So, in 2007, Branson promised a $ 25 million prize for the Virgin Earth Challenge to anyone who can demonstrate an effective development to eliminate anthropogenic atmospheric gases that lead to the greenhouse effect. This development should have a lasting effect (at least 10 years) and significantly improve the environment and climate of the Earth.

Currently, Richard Branson, together with Paul Allen, founder of Microsoft, is working on the Virgin Galactic project (space tourism), thanks to which in the near future everyone will have the opportunity to fly into space for only $ 200,000.

Richard Branson - Record Man, Show Man

Richard Branson is known in the world not only as a talented entrepreneur, but also as a showman, a person-brand, a bright, extraordinary personality.

He holds the world record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the fastest time in the history of sailing, in 1986 on the high-speed vessel "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II". His repeated flights in a hot air balloon posed no less risk to his life. So, in 1987, he flew across the Atlantic in a Virgin Atlantic Flyer. And, remarkably, his balloon was not only the first hot gas balloon to cross the Atlantic, but it was also the largest ever soared. With its volume of 65,000 cubic meters, the balloon's flight speed reached 210 km / h.

In 1991, Richard Branson completed the longest flight in history. He crossed the Pacific Ocean, breaking 11 thousand km. from Japan to northern Canada in a 74,000 cubic meter hot air balloon. Breaking the world record, he set a new one at 392 km / h. In the period from 1995 to 1998. Richard Branson, in a circle of loyal friends, several times made new attempts to non-stop flight around the globe, but to no avail. At the end of 1998, he again managed to set a world record for the distance from Morocco to Hawaii, but the dream of a round-the-world flight was again not destined to come true due to bad weather. But already in March 1999, he finally managed to successfully fly around the world in a balloon with a team from Switzerland. In June 2004, Richard Branson set the speed record for crossing the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Sometimes only a miracle saved him from certain death. However, thanks to this, he felt the fullness of life. His extreme sporting achievements to this day attract attention not only in his native England, but throughout the world. In addition, it further enhances the popularity of the Virgin brand.

At one time, Richard Branson was the star of the reality show "Rebel - Millionaire" (2004), in which 16 participants competed under his leadership in entrepreneurship, was a guest actor, as a rule, played himself, in many television series, in particular Rescuers Malibu "," Friends "," The Simpsons "," New World "," Handsome ". and also performed bit parts in films such as Around the World in 80 Days, Casino Royale, Superman Returns, etc. When asked why he needs all this, Richard admits: “I love to learn new things, I am very curious. I like to take something well-established and turn it upside down. I perceive life as a single endless process of learning new things ”.

One day a Virgin stewardess shared with Branson her idea of \u200b\u200bopening a bridal shop and after a short time became its co-owner. At the opening ceremony of this very salon, Richard Branson appeared to the public in a wedding dress and full make-up.

And oddly enough, but his petty tricks are perceived by the public as normal. He can afford to come to a party in a woman's dress, jokingly throw pastries, push a guest star into the pool, or unexpectedly turn another diva of the world show business upside down, he can appear in jeans and a baseball cap at the Queen's official reception. Of course, it becomes funny when the owner of the Virgin Group is mistaken for an ordinary hard worker and is not allowed to face control even on the doorstep of the club. And after realizing who is really in front of them, they vaguely apologize and offer to pass. Richard is not surprised by this, for him this is a familiar situation. I just want to compare him with a prince disguised as a beggar in order to be closer to the people.
Perhaps Richard Branson owes such eccentric behavior to his equally extravagant grandmother Dorothy, who at 89 became the oldest person in Great Britain to pass the Latin American dance exam, and at 90 was recognized as the oldest golfer to score with one hit into the hole. And that's not all! At 99 years old, Dorothy's grandmother traveled around the world on an ocean liner. What do you say, a great example to follow.

Sir Richard Branson has managed to become famous as a virtuoso of advertising shocking. For example, launching his Virgin Cola effervescent drink on the market, he rode a tank to Times Square (New York, USA) and fired his main competitor Cola-Cola from a cannon a couple of times at a billboard. In his subsequent interviews, answering the question why he needed to carry out such a campaign, he innocently remarked that advertising in the media, as well as outdoor advertising, cost excessive money. " And so I rode down the street in a tank, and all the front pages of the newspapers are already mine, "Branson boasted.

And while advertising his Virgin Mobile phones in London, he, having previously undressed, climbed up on a construction crane and from there, to the delight of all onlookers, brandished his new phones for half an hour. Further more, he changed into a stewardess, a clown, a pirate, jumped from a great height on the wings of Icarus, descended from the ski slope of Switzerland completely naked, participated in goat races, came to the Queen's reception in different boots, danced a striptease on a table in women's garters, danced Princess Diana with champagne. And on the birthday of his Virgin airline, he persuaded guest Pamela Anderson to show all the employees her famous breasts.

One of Branson's latest pranks was a daring photo shoot with young and completely nude model Danny Parkinson for Vanity Fair.

Personal life of Richard Branson

Virgin conquered the world Richard Branson torn higher and higher. He had neither the strength nor the time for his personal life.

Branson met his first American wife, Kristen Tomassi, under the following circumstances - shouting at the top of his lungs: "Contraband!", Branson was running around the house rented by the company for visiting musicians. Looking into one of the rooms, Richard saw a beautiful tall blonde of the Scandinavian type: cheerful eyes, high cheekbones, tight-fitting black jeans and a black bra - the girl was holding a sweater in her hands. He said that she looked much better this way and that she could not wear anything at all. She asked what kind of smuggling he was asking about. When the black and shaggy Contraband entered the room wagging their tails, they both burst out laughing.

Branson and Kristen spent the day together, at night they were also together, and in the morning she left - her fiance was waiting for her. Richard Branson was not going to put up with it: in the afternoon Kristen received a strange telegram: “The boat is sinking. Call a pay phone ”- and there was his own number. Puzzled Kristen ran out into the street and called back. And while they were talking, John (he was already guarding at the entrance) entered the apartment, told her boyfriend that the girl had left him, and took her suitcase to his floating house. On the phone, Branson told Christine that he had prepared a surprise for her and that she should come to him as soon as possible - the surprise was her own things, which he solemnly dumped on the floor.

The marriage with Kristen Tomassi did not last long for the billionaire. Richard Branson lived not so much with his wife as with the phone: he rang at any time of the day or night, and Richard, looking up from the newspaper, lunch or sex, began to do business. At first Kristen was indignant, then - solely in protest - she began to cheat on him, and then went to another. Branson chased her all over the world and yet Kristen did not return - Richard had to come to terms with this, but they remained friends.

In the past, Joan, Branson's second wife, was a saleswoman in an antique store, Branson took her away from her husband, with whom she lived for eight years. He fell in love with her at first sight, brought flowers for a year, went on dates for another year - and one fine evening she stayed in his floating house. Their first child lived only four days, and their second daughter, Holly, was born in 1981, inquisitive and healthy, and three years later she had a brother, Samuel.

Joan was never used to her husband's adventures - a few years ago Richard sailed across the Atlantic in a motor boat (the boat went down, but he miraculously managed to escape) - and every time she could not find a place for herself from anxiety. The fact that he constantly tested himself and tempered fate did not allow her to sleep peacefully - why risk it, because everything is so good with them ?!

Cheerful Richard Branson will turn 62 this year. He is still full of strength and vitality. Next to him is his loving wife Joan and two children.

It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally. But we can say for sure that Sir Richard is the image of a typical businessman who is always ready to take risks. He was never afraid to risk everything, both in business and in everyday life (traveling around the world in a balloon is a prime example of this). Today there are a lot of small businessmen who want to build a serious "business", but at the same time, not getting involved in adventures, but working in the style of "the quieter you drive, the further you will be." It is unlikely that they will succeed. To achieve something worthwhile, you need to take risks, put everything on the line ... Branson's life can be characterized by a commercial for one of his companies Virgin Airlines

What else is the reason for Virgin's success besides being a risky guy? An important factor is the company's strategy. When you look at all of the successful Virgin Group companies, you can see one important detail. All of these companies are not leaders in their industry. On the contrary, they are opposed to them. For example, in the UK air transportation market there is a large BA, a monster company, where all as one employees go in strict suits. It is contrasted with the extravagant Virgin Atlantic, which brings with it fun and clowning. In the mobile market, Vodafone is pitted against Virgin Mobile. Something special is already expected from Virgin. She is exactly the company that in the public eye is the David challenging Galiat. People love stories like this. And who cares that the whole Virgin is much larger than this very Galiath. The second factor is Richard Branson himself. England appreciates its heroes like no other country. And Richard Branson is the most successful British businessman. So the credibility of Branson in England is unlimited.

Behind the outward appearance of a lover of adventurous adventures, accustomed to wearing completely simple, inconspicuous, sometimes even very shabby clothes, capable of shocking high society with his extraordinary antics, but at the same time admitted into its circles, hides a person with a tenacious analytical mind. He is able to quickly analyze and clearly assess the situation, calculate and competently plan the activities of the companies he heads at lightning speed.

He has a lot of non-standard business ideas in his head, most of which led to the achievement of significant commercial success. He can easily find a new opportunity where no one else sees it.

Paradoxically, he achieves success even in areas of activity that were previously unfamiliar to him. In his opinion, in order to reach the top of the business, it is not necessary to thoroughly understand it, first of all, it is necessary to be able to effectively manage it. Thanks to this inimitable management style, innovative approach to business, developed intuition businessman Richard Branson has managed to achieve phenomenal success.

Another important feature of Richard Branson should be noted: he knows how to motivate people in a special way - working with him is simply fun. There have been cases when his employees did not leave his business, despite the fact that they were offered twice the salary. Obviously, in addition to the need for high earnings, a person has an equally important need for the business that you do to give a feeling of fullness of life.

Richard Branson not afraid to do what he wants. In his opinion, life is not so long as to spend it on boring, not giving joy and pleasure to business. For him, work is not a duty, but an exciting activity, a kind of entertainment that brings first of all fun, and then a colossal income. “Live rejoicing, work from the heart, and the money will come by itself”, - says Richard Branson.

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