Entrepreneurship
Richard Branson Biography | Early Life | Education | Family | Business | Wealth
| Name: | Richard Charles Nicholas Branso |
| Born: | 18 July 1950 |
| Nationality: | British |
| Age: | 72 |
| Net Worth: | $5 billion |
| Business: | Virgin Groups |
| Spouse: | Joan Templeman, Kristen Tomassi |
| Children: | Clare Sara Branson, Holly Branson, Sam Branson |
“Starting your own business isn’t just a job – it’s a way of life.”
– Richard Branson
Some people become an entrepreneur in the process of making something, while some make entrepreneurship their goal. Richard Branson is of the second type. He became an entrepreneur because he sought entrepreneurship as a dream.
He is yet another example of a high school dropout turned entrepreneur. The first ever business he started was at the age of 16. It was about a magazine named Student. When the magazine started losing money, he foresaw his imminent failure and turned it into a success – the result was Virgin Records – a chain of record stores.
Virgin later blossomed into a vast global conglomerate business housing travel, telecommunication, banking, health, and music industry.
Well, that is just a briefing. Richard Branson is known for doing more than we can write about — both as an entrepreneur and a humanitarian. Here is a story of an entrepreneur who sought after entrepreneurship and became successful.
Who Is Richard Branson?
Richard Branson is a British entrepreneur and the founder of Virgin Group, a global conglomerate business platform. Virgin Group spans different industries, with multiple businesses named after Virgin. For Example – Virgin Records, Virgin Megastores, Virgin Atlantic Airline, a spacecraft Virgin Rail Group.
But the list is more than we can name. For example – Virgin Vodka, Virgin Cola, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Hotels, and Virgin Voyages (yes, a lot of Virgins). Of all the things Branson gave the name Virgin to, his residence is not one – The British Virgin Islands.
Jokes aside, the famous British entrepreneur loves venturing into a diverse range of businesses and exploring them. This habit of Richard Branson is what made his global conglomerate flourish and expand.
Early Life & Education
Richard Branson was born to Edward James Branson, a lawyer, and Eve Branson, a former air hostess and ballet dancer. As mentioned before, Richard Branson started his first business at the age of 16 with his magazine named Students.
The Branson family spent a considerable phase of their history in India. His great-great-great-grandfather John Edward went to India in 1793, and Branson also revealed that one of his great-great-great-grandmothers was Indian and was named Ariya.
Richard Branson’s education started in a prep school named Scaitcliffe School. Then he attended Cliff View House School in Sussex and Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. At a young age, Branson suffered from Dyslexia.
His headmaster told him that he would either go to prison or become a millionaire. So, he took the second option and outnumbered his teacher’s assumption.
As an entrepreneur, Branson takes after his mother. Also, an entrepreneur, Eve Branson, was supportive of Richard Branson. Eve Branson herself had a successful business that sold wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper.
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Entrepreneurial Achievements
Richard Branson’s early business ventures were a failure. From planting Christmas trees to breeding parakeets, Branson tried his hands at lots of businesses. Most of them became successful, aside from the Christmas trees – rabbits took responsibility for ruining one of his early business adventures.
His first successful business was the Students magazine with Nick Powell in 1966. His net worth was £50,000 after a year. Later, his magazine became a vital component of the mail-order record business he was about to start.
Virgin Records
In 1971, Branson started his first-ever record shop in London. His business escalated from a record store to a recording studio to starting music labels. Richard Branson stepped foot into the record industry and created his own music label.
During their freshman year, Virgin Record signed controversial bands like Sex Pistol (no other labels were willing to sign them). Later, Branson’s label signed famous brands such as Rolling Stones, Paula Abdul, Can, and Steve Winwood.
Virgin Atlantic
Branson had to charter his own plane because his flight got canceled during his trip to Puerto Rico. This was a problem, and he and Branson solved it by founding Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Cargo in 1984.
Virgin Telecoms & Virgin Railways
Richard Branson had to keep his airline company afloat, and for that, he had to sell out his Virgin Labels. He said he wept after the deal was complete. Branson sold Virgin labels to EMI for £500 million. Richard then bought the European short-haul airline named Euro-Belgian Airlines and renamed it Virgin Express.
But, during the privatization of the British railways, Richard Branson took the risk and entered the railway business and created the Virgin Rail Group in the 1990s. Later, Virgin Atlantic became a competitor to British Airways, and a feud started between the two airlines.
However, British Airways had to compensate Branson and settle the case by paying £500,000 to Branson and £110,000 to Virgin Atlantic. Branson distributed the compensation he got from British airways among his employees.
But, these were some of the core businesses Richard Branson tried his hands into. However, his conglomerate houses countless businesses, as mentioned above.
Charity
Richard Branson is known for being a huge humanitarian. Some of his huge charity works remind us of the kind-hearted person Branson is. He has pledged to donate all the profits from his travel firms (which are worth more than $3) over the next ten years.
He made this pledge in an effort to reduce global warming. He has also donated to education charities in Africa. In fact, he was a giver from his early teenage life. His first charity was the Student Valley Centre which he started at the age of 17. He is also a patron of the international rescue corps.
Personal Life
Richard Branson married Kristen Tomassi in 1972. But the couple got divorced in 1979; they had no children together. In 1976, he met Joan Templeman and started a relationship with her. With Templeman, Richard Branson had three children.
Unfortunately, his first child with Templeman died four days after birth. But the children after, Holly ( daughter) and Sam (son) live. Following the birth of Holly and Sam, Branson married Templeman in 1989 in Necker Island, his residence. Richard Branson lost his mother to Covid-19 in January 2021. Branson currently lives with his family in Necker Island.
Source: https://bit.ly/3IAX1ee
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Here are some questions and answers about the British entrepreneur Richard Branson–
Richard Branson Became rich by starting his own business at 16. His first business was a magazine. Later, he branched out into different businesses, starting by creating his own music label named, Virgin. His businesses include – hotels, travel companies, record labels, radio stations, airlines, railways, and more.
Indeed, Richard Branson is one of the richest men in the world. As of January 2023, he has a net worth of $5 billion in US dollars.
Richard Branson is a Billionaire, and his Conglomerate company holds more than 60 companies across different industries. He was an entrepreneur teenager who turned into a billionaire. He is one of the biggest business giants in the UK.
Bottom Line!
Richard Branson stands out as an entrepreneur in many ways. But his tendency to take a tour of the unchartered waters of different businesses is one of them. His pledge to give away $3 shows the kind of humanitarian he is. His story should inspire, teach, and help show a path toward success.
Please share with us what you learned from the story of Richard Branson. If you have any questions, we would love to answer them as well. But for the time being, stay tuned.
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