You probably already know who Richard Branson is. The beard, the island, the hot air balloons. He's one of those entrepreneurs who became famous not just for building companies but for being, well, Richard Branson.
He dropped out of school at 16. Started a magazine called Student at 17. Then in 1972 he founded Virgin Records, which signed acts like the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, and Janet Jackson. That alone would be a pretty remarkable career. But Branson was just getting started.
Virgin Atlantic Airways came in 1984, and suddenly he was taking on British Airways in a fight that got genuinely nasty. He launched businesses in mobile phones, fitness, hotels, trains, and about a hundred other industries. The Virgin Group now includes over 400 companies. Not all of them worked. Branson has had plenty of failures and he'll tell you about them. But the ones that worked, worked big.
And then there's Virgin Galactic, his space tourism company. He actually flew to space himself in 2021, beating Jeff Bezos by about a week and a half. Whether you think that's visionary or ridiculous probably depends on how you feel about billionaires in general, but you have to admit the man commits to his ideas.
He was knighted in 2000. He's written several books, including "Losing My Virginity" and "Screw Business as Usual." And he's appeared on Shark Tank as a guest shark, which is kind of funny when you think about it. A guy who's built 400 companies sitting there evaluating someone's artisanal candle business.
Some highlights from a very long list:
- Founded Virgin Records in 1972, signing some of the biggest acts in music
- Launched Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984
- Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000
- Flew to space aboard Virgin Galactic in 2021
- Built the Virgin Group into a conglomerate of over 400 companies