Richard Branson

Virgin Group · b. 1950

Born July 18, 1950

Richard Branson (born 18 July 1950 in Blackheath, London) is the dyslexic British school-leaver who founded Student magazine at 16, built a record label and mail-order business into the Virgin brand he applied like a franchise across music, travel, rail, telecoms and finance. He launched Virgin Atlantic in 1984 against British Airways, floated Virgin Group in 1986 and later took it private again, bought Necker Island for $180,000 in 1978, and spent decades turning a difficult-to-spell brand into a global consumer empire and a personal platform for record-breaking stunts.

Covered 3× on Founders ↓

Career highlights

1950Born 18 July in Blackheath, London, to Ted and Eve Branson; severely dyslexic, he later said he struggled at school and left at 16.
1966Launches Student, a national youth-culture magazine, at 16 from a church crypt, selling advertising to fund it.
1970Starts a mail-order record business, Virgin, selling discounted albums by post and dodging a British retail price-fixing cartel via import.
1972Opens Virgin Records, the record-shop chain, and later the label that signs the Sex Pistols, Mike Oldfield, and Culture Club.
1978Buys Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for roughly $180,000, later the retreat where he builds much of the Virgin lifestyle brand.
1984Launches Virgin Atlantic Airways after a canceled flight to Puerto Rico, persuaded by a lawyer who proposed the airline that would take on British Airways.
1986Floats Virgin Group on the London Stock Exchange, then buys it back private by 1988, frustrated by public-market constraints.
1992Sells the music business that carried the Virgin name to Thorn EMI for the cash to keep the airline and empire afloat.
1999Sells 49% of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines and launches Virgin Mobile, extending the brand across telecoms.
2006Commits to giving away the eventual profits of his transport businesses to combat global warming, formalizing his philanthropy-focused turn.

Lessons for founders

Business is fluid, so keep the company shapeable. Branson describes business as 'a fluid, changing substance.' He floated Virgin then bought it back private rather than be captured by public-market demands, keeping the group free to move across industries.
Build initial traction with smart, cheap publicity. From Student magazine to signing the Sex Pistols to price-warring British Airways, Branson repeatedly used attention-getting moves and self-promotion to get a young brand noticed without big ad budgets.
Protect the downside on every big bet. When launching Virgin Atlantic he structured deals to cap personal losses, and he sold the record business to fund the airline at its most cash-hungry — a recurring pattern of keeping the whole empire solvent around the riskiest bets.
The brand is the asset; the category is negotiable. Virgin built no single product moat but transferred the name across music, aviation, rail and finance, treating the brand and its customer trust as the portable asset everything else hangs on.

On the Founders podcast3×

In their own words5

Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

Richard Branson

Branson's 1998 autobiography, the primary source for episode #47 and the fullest first-person account of building the Virgin empire. source ↗

Finding My Virginity: The New Autobiography

Richard Branson

Branson's 2017 second autobiography, the subject of Founders episode #48, covering the post-millennium Virgin years. source ↗

Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons in Life

Richard Branson

Branson's 2006 book of life and business lessons, the subject of Founders episode #49. source ↗

Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur

Richard Branson

Branson's 2008 business memoir drawing on the inner workings of the Virgin group across its airline, music and mobile ventures. source ↗

The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership

Richard Branson

Branson's 2014 book on leadership distilled from four decades of Virgin, emphasizing listening, and the power of letting people flourish. source ↗

What they recommend65

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World

Adam Grant

Listed in Richard Branson's own 'My Top 65 Books To Read In A Lifetime' published on Virgin.com"One of the titles in Richard Branson's own 'My Top 65 Books To Read In A Lifetime' list on Virgin.com." source ↗