Richard Branson

Richard Branson was born in 1950 and at age 17, while at Stowe - the famous English public school - started a student advisory service. Three years later, he founded the Virgin mail order record company and shortly afterwards opened a shop on Oxford Street, London's main shopping thoroughfare. In 1972 a studio was built in Oxfordshire, the very one that Mike Oldfield recorded his five millions selling album “Tubular Bells.”
This was to provide the catalyst for Virgin Records that went on to sign major names such as The Rolling Stones,
Culture Club, Janet Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds and The Human League - all contributing to the continued success story.
By the early 1980s, Virgin Records was one of the top six record companies in the world. Then, in 1984, Branson got a phone call out of the blue suggesting a jumbo jet passenger service between London and New York. Branson liked the idea, much to the horror of his fellow directors who thought him crazy. Undeterred, he announced to the world that Virgin Atlantic Airways would begin operating within three months! At which point a
lot of other people agreed -- he was crazy!
But, an aircraft was found, staff were hired, licences granted and, thanks in no small part to Branson's infectious enthusiasm, on June, 22 1984, an aircraft packed with friends, celebs and the media set off for Newark, New Jersey -- and a phenomenon was born!
Since then, Virgin Atlantic has become the second largest long-haul international airline operating services out of London's Heathrow and Gatwick Airports to 21 destinations all over the world - from Shanghai to the Caribbean and, of course, the US. In 1992 Branson sold Virgin Music to Thorn EMI and ploughed the profits back into Virgin Atlantic, improving an already great service even further.

However, he still has a big role in the entertainment industry through the international Megastores, the V2 record label and interests in night-clubs, book and software publishing, film and video editing and hotels.
In December 1999, Branson signed an agreement to sell a 49% stake of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines to form a unique global partnership. It turned out that 1999 was an eventful year for Branson, topped off by his being awarded a knighthood for his services to entrepreneurship.

As you might imagine, Branson never stops (which can be exhausting for the people around him!) and sets himself just as steep challenges in his personal life as in his business life. Just for fun, he has been involved in round-the- world balloon attempts as well as rekindling the spirit of the Blue Riband when he crossed the Atlantic in his Virgin Atlantic Challenger II boat in the fastest ever recorded time.