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Richard Branson, whose full name and title is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, is a British entrepreneur, businessman, investor, philanthropist, adventurer, and the founder of the Virgin Group.
In 2000, Branson was knighted by then Prince of Wales, Charles III, and he received the Citizen of the Year Award from the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) in 2007. He has published several books, including an autobiography, Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way in 1998, and a business book, The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership in 2014. In 2004, he established Virgin Unite, the nonprofit foundation of the Virgin Group. In 2006, he pledged an estimated $3 billion to fund environmentally friendly fuel research. In 2023, his net worth is estimated at $3 billion by Forbes.
Richard Branson: Advice for Entrepreneurs | Big Think
Richard Branson founded the Virgin Group, a conglomerate of about forty-five companies across thirty-five countries. Virgin Group companies include the airline Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Megastores, Virgin Hotels, and Virgin Galatic, his space tourism company.
Young Richard Branson
Branson began his entrepreneurial career at fifteen when he started the magazine Student. In 1970, he founded Virgin Mail Order Records, which led him to open the first British discount record store in 1971. In 1973, he helped form Virgin Records, which he sold in 1992. In 1984, he became the majority backer of the airline that he renamed Virgin Atlantic Airways.
In 2004, he founded Virgin Galatic, and in 2021, he was on its first flight to space. Branson named his first company "Virgin" because of his inexperience with business, and every company since then has also taken the name.
Richard Branson in space, July 2021
Richard Branson is an adventurer who has been part of record-setting teams. In 1986, he was part of a two-person team that set a record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a powerboat.
In 1987, he and Swedish aeronaut Per Lindstrand were the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon. They repeated the feat in 1991 by crossing the Pacific Ocean. In the late 1990s, Branson was on teams that made three failed attempts at around-the-world balloon flights. In December 1998, American adventurer Steve Fossett joined Branson's hot air balloon team, and they became the first to fly across Asia, before going down off Hawaii.
In 2021, Branson made a suborbital spaceflight in a Virgin Galactic spacecraft.
Richard Branson was born to Ted and Eve Branson in Surrey, England in 1950. His father was a lawyer, and his mother was a flight attendant. He remained close to his parents their entire lives.
Richard Branson with his parents
Having dyslexia, he struggled in school, leaving Scaitcliffe at thirteen for the Stowe School and eventually dropping out at age sixteen.
Branson has been married twice, first to Kristen Tomassi in 1972 and to Joan Templeman in 1989. He and Joan have been married for over thirty years and have two children together, Holly Branson and Sam Branson.
