Virgin mogul Richard Branson pushes the envelope of transportation with new space tourism project. Here’s how the entrepreneur defies norms.
Name: Richard Branson
Occupation: Entrepreneur and philanthropist
Salary/net worth: $5.5-billion
Claim to fame: Founder of Virgin Group, which includes 400 companies
Billionaire Richard Branson is one of the most recognizable entrepreneurs in the world. Even though he dropped out of high-school, it didn’t stop him from success.
At 16, he ventured into his first business, a magazine called Student. Later, he entered the music business, starting Virgin Records in 1973, signing big-time acts to his record label including the Rolling Stones, Genesis, and Culture Club.
Nowadays, the Virgin empire is massive. It includes more than 400 companies from entertainment and financial services to gyms and even a space tourism company.
At 66, Branson’s net worth is approximately $5.5-billion, and ranking no. 286 on Forbes World’s Billionaires list.
Branson is also an avid philanthropist who supports causes fighting CO2 emissions to protecting the Great Barrier Reef. In 2000, he was knighted by the Queen for his entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors.
At heart, Branson is a businessman who finds problems and fixes them. He’s innovative and imaginative in his approach. He runs big businesses like small down-to-earth companies with a personal touch.
Often, Branson takes a unique perspective of the customer’s point of view to determine how he can improve someone’s life to create a viable business. That’s the core of many of his business ventures.
His Virgin Money financial institutions in the U.K. aren’t like typical banks. Instead, they’re cozy living-room like branches with no teller lines but feature tables, sofas, and WiFi — all designed to add value for customers and build a business that stands out from the crowd.
Branson challenges entrepreneurs and business leaders to think outside the box and find simple ways to improve people’s lives. His philosophy is to dig deep because he says the smallest gap in the marketplace could yield big business opportunities.
Bold and brash, Branson challenges the status quo every chance he gets. He’s a leader who is unconventional in his business endeavours and is willing to take risks.
Case in point: Virgin Galactic, his space travel company.
Branson is in the race to space, hoping to carry out the first commercial spaceflight for civilians and take transportation to new frontiers.
So far, more than 700 people are on board including celebrities such as Harrison Ford, Ashton Kutcher, Stephen Hawking, and Malala Yousafzai.
Despite many setbacks, including a deadly spaceship explosion during a test-flight that killed the pilot and injured the co-pilot in 2014, Branson still has believers and followers.
And he perseveres, determined as ever to get his rocket-powered plane, SpaceShipTwo, off the ground to take tourists into space in the next few years.
