Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Bransonis an English business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder of Virgin Group, which comprises more than 400 companies...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth18 July 1950
CityLondon, England
school home water
The truth is this: the Earth cannot provide enough food and fresh water for 10 billion people, never mind homes, never mind roads, hospitals and schools.
school years understanding
I was dyslexic, I had no understanding of schoolwork whatsoever. I certainly would have failed IQ tests. And it was one of the reasons I left school when I was 15 years old. And if I - if I'm not interested in something, I don't grasp it.
success home school
When I was 15, I left school to start a magazine, and it became a success because I wouldn't take no for an answer. I remember banging on James Baldwin's door to ask for an interview when he came to England. Then I got Jean-Paul Sartre's home phone number and asked him to contribute. If I'd been 30, he might have said no, but I was a 15-year-old with passion and he was charmed. Making money was always just a side product of having a good time and creating things nobody'd seen before.
school entrepreneur waste
If you're looking to become an entrepreneur then don't waste your time going to university or business school - just get on and do it.
running school world
I set up this magazine called Student when I was 16, and I didn't do it to make money - I did it because I wanted to edit a magazine. There wasn't a national magazine run by students, for students. I didn't like the way I was being taught at school. I didn't like what was going on in the world, and I wanted to put it right.
fall kids school
If you have conflicts, everything breaks down in society. Kids can't go to school. Basic health can't be looked after. Every aspect of society falls apart.
struggle school thinking
I think great businessmen are more likely made than born. I don't know if it's from your upbringing, your parental background, the struggles you go through. In my own particular situation, I left school at 15 and I was struggling to survive in the jungle and that was a great education. So I think just getting out there, hands on, learning to survive teaches you a lot.
school writing entrepreneur
I had no plans to be an entrepreneur. I just wanted to be a journalist and write for a magazine. At 15, I just decided to leave school and launch a national student magazine.
fun school mean
Fun is at the core of the way I like to do business and it has been key to everything I've done from the outset. More than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin's success. I am aware that the ideas of business as being fun and creative goes right against the grain of convention, and it's certainly not how the they teach it at some of those business schools, where business means hard grind and lots of 'discounted cash flows' and net' present values'.
club expect flight flying gives members save space time
We expect the first Virgin Galactic space flight to take place in 2008, which gives our Flying Club members time to save up all their miles.
impeccable millions people priorities record
We are used to transporting millions of people ... transporting them safely. And we want to keep that impeccable record so. We know what our priorities are.
combined deal holding increased order price reap reduction reward share shares taken
I've taken a reduction in the price in order to get the deal done. We will reap our reward from the increased share price by holding our shares in this new combined company.
enormous fantastic sad sympathy
We have enormous sympathy for him. He has done a fantastic job. It is sad they have to come down so soon.
atlantic british build business combat dirty famous felt financial muscle needed prove proved record run successful tricks whereas
British Airways was doing everything they could do to put Virgin Atlantic out of business -- what's become famous here as the dirty tricks campaign, ... We felt that we needed the financial muscle to combat them. And I still had a lot to prove at Virgin Atlantic whereas we proved that we could, you know, build and run a successful record company.