Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, sometimes abbreviated as SRB for "Sir Richard Branson," is a British entrepreneur, best known for his Virgin brand, a banner that encompasses a variety of business organizations. On the Oct. 12, 2006, he emphasized his stated plan is to invest $3 billion over 10 years to fight global warming. It is estimated that Branson is worth more than $5 billion according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2006.
Branson, born July 15, 1950, was educated at Scaitcliffe School until the age of 13. He then attended Stowe School until he was 15. He was the captain of the football and cricket teams, and started two ventures by the age of 15 that eventually failed: one growing Christmas trees and another raising budgerigars. At 16, Branson decided to quit school and move to London, where he began his first successful entrepreneurial activity setting up Student magazine. When he was 17, he opened his first charity, the "Student Valley Centre."
Branson started his first record business after he traveled across the English Channel and purchased crates of "cut-out" records from a record discounter. He sold the records out of the trunk of his car to retail outlets in London. He continued selling cut-outs through a record mail order business in 1970.
Branson eventually started a record shop on Oxford Street in London and, shortly after, launched the record label Virgin Records with Nik Powell. Branson had gained enough profits from his record store to purchase a country estate, in which he installed a recording studio. He leased out studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield.
Virgin Records' first release was Oldfield's Tubular Bells, which was a best-seller and British LP chart topper. Virgin released the album, after no other company dared to release the unconventional record. The company signed controversial bands such as the Sex Pistols, which other companies were reluctant to sign. Virgin Records also won praise for exposing the public to obscure avant-garde music such as the krautrock bands Faust and Can.
In 1992, Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI, a more conservative-minded company that previously had rescinded a contract with the Sex Pistols. Branson is said to have wept when the sale was completed since the record business had been the genesis of the Virgin Empire. He later formed V2 Records to re-enter the music business.
Branson's current venture with the Virgin group is Virgin Fuel, which is set to exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and also aircrafts. Branson has been tagged as a 'transformational leader' by management lexicon, with his maverick strategies and his stress on the Virgin Group as an organization driven on informality and information.
On September 21, 2006 Branson pledged to donate the profits of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains to research environmentally friendly fuels. The donation is estimated to be worth $3 billion. Richard Branson thinks that the bio-fuel is the future of fuel, and within 30 years will replace fossil fuels. At the Abu Dhabi World Leadership summit Richard Branson said that the fleet of his company Virgin Atlantic Airways is going to use bio-fuels produced from plant waste. In an interview with a reporter from Reuters he said, that he was looking for alternative fuel sources and that even he was planning to start building cellulosic ethanol plants to make fuel that is derived from the waste product of the plant. He believes that the future of fuel is in this environmentally friendly technology.
Branson has accomplished many things. Branson formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, launched Virgin Mobile in 1999 and Virgin Blue in Australia in 2000. Branson was honored by the Conservative government in the 1980s, and was briefly given the post of "litter tsar" by Margaret Thatcher—charged with "keeping Britain tidy." He was again seen close to the government when the Labour Party came to power in 1997.
In 200,5 he declared that there were only negligible differences between the two main parties on economic matters. He reputedly considered running for Mayor of London in 2004, but decided not to. Branson has described himself as a libertarian. In the past, he openly admitted to smoking cannabis, and considered selling cannabis in Virgin stores if it were to become legal
Virgin boss Richard Branson said that he would sell legalized cannabis in his stores but not tobacco because it is too dangerous. He said his company would not want to get involved in selling ordinary cigarettes—but he would not rule out promoting cannabis if the law allowed it because it was probably less harmful than tobacco. The millionaire businessman said that to encourage youngsters to smoke would be "immoral."
Last year Branson was among 100 prominent people who signed a public declaration in favor of the decriminalization of cannabis. They also included former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, public relations guru Max Clifford, author Martin Amis and veteran playwright Harold Pinter. When asked about cannabis on a BBC2 interview he said: "I personally think it should be legalized. I think it’s wrong that 100,000 young people have criminal records every year for doing something which is no worse than their parents are doing every night—drinking alcohol."