virgin company. Modern Geniuses: Eternal Teenager Richard Branson. Record sales and Virgin Mail Order Records

Rechtsform Ltd. Gründung 1970 Sitz London … Deutsch Wikipedia

Virgin Group- Unternehmensform Ltd. Unternehmenssitz London, Vereinigtes Königreich ... Deutsch Wikipedia

virgin group- infobox Company company name = Virgin Group company company type = Private (Limited liability) foundation = 1970 (Incorporation: 1989) location city = London, England location country = UK key people = Richard Branson, Chairman Stephen Murphy,… … Wikipedia

virgin group- Logo de Virgin Group Création 1970 Fondateurs Richard Branson ... Wikipédia en Français

virgin group- Este artículo o sección necesita referencias que aparezcan en una publicación acreditada, como revistas especializadas, monografías, prensa diaria o páginas de Internet fidedignas. Puedes añadirlas así o avisar al autor … Wikipedia Español

Virgin Media- Inc. Type Public Traded as NASDAQ: VMED, LSE: ... Wikipedia

Virgin Drinks- Virgin Group Logo de Virgin Group Création 1989 Fondateur(s) Richard Branson ... Wikipédia en Français

IATA VS ICAO VIR Call sign ... Wikipedia

Virgin Books- Country of origin United Kingdom Headquarters location London Distribution The Book Service Publication ty ... Wikipedia

Virgin Atlantic Airways IATA VS ICAO VIR Call sign VIRGIN Founded 1984 Hubs Heathrow Gatwick Additional hubs ... Wikipedia

Books

VIRGIN WAY, BRANSON, RICHARD. While building the Virgin Group over forty years, Richard Branson has never shied away from seemingly outlandish challenges that others (including his own colleagues on several occasions)…
Richard Branson. False Majesty, Bower Vol. Richard Branson. One of the most famous, richest and most successful people in the UK. Entrepreneur without fear and reproach. Creator of a business empire under the Virgin Group brand. This image…

Richard Branson is a bright personality, a man who is used to challenging. He did poorly in school due to dyslexia and created his own magazine. He crossed the Atlantic hot-air balloon and dressed up as a woman. Now owns more than 350 companies worldwide, united under the Virgin brand.

He has traveled around the world, broken speed records, sent people into space, lived on a houseboat, built a submarine, performed in a wedding dress, competed in Coca-Cola, displayed a bare butt in advertising, rescued British hostages and helped Kuwaiti refugees... And this is not a complete list of extraordinary actions of Richard Branson. The history of business development is riddled with eccentric antics and rebellious acts.

Who is he: Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a well-known British tycoon who was worth $5.1 billion in 2016. Founder and owner of the Virgin Group, a diversified corporation with over 300 various companies.

In the photo: Richard Branson builds a business in the style of Virgin by his own rules

In Russia, Richard Branson is known for his books that talk about business, describe his biography, give motivating advice and share own rules success. His most famous books are: “To hell with everything! Get on and do it!”, “Losing Your Virginity”, “Reach for Heaven”, “Virgin Business”, “My Rules”, “To hell with business as always”, “Naked Business” and others.

Diaper businessman

The future billionaire was born on July 18, 1950 in the Blackheath area of London. Branson's mother constantly came up with ways extra income: she organized a business in her own garage and at home. Her irrepressible will and perseverance in achieving goals had a huge impact on Richard.

Childhood photo of Richard Branson - the future billionaire

Branson studied at a private school, and teachers considered him behind, and even lazy. The reason for this was dyslexia - it was difficult for the boy to master the skills of reading and writing. At the age of 8, he could not even read. Henry Ford, the world legend of the automotive industry, suffered from the same ailment.

At the age of 9 (!) Ricky decided to go into business selling Christmas trees. With a friend, they bought seeds, dug holes and planted spruces. But the rabbits dug up the seeds and ate them. Then Richard realized that money does not grow on trees.

The next Christmas, he got the idea to breed and sell budgerigars. The father even built an aviary for these purposes, but even here the boy failed - the demand was low, and after some time the rats attacked the aviary and destroyed the birds.

At the age of 15, he decided to leave school and implement another business idea with a friend - to create a magazine for young people. The parents supported the boy, deciding that he would attend only the lessons of ancient history, which brought him pleasure.

His motto in life is to do what makes you happy. He admits that he never made plans to become rich. All he wants is to enjoy life and overcome trials.

In the photo: Richard Branson: "I achieved everything I dreamed of at 20 years old"

The first success in entrepreneurship was the magazine for British youth "Student", on the creation of which Branson and a friend worked in the basement of a friend's parents' house in London. For days on end, Richard called potential advertisers from a pay phone and offered placements in his as-yet-defunct magazine. Together with a friend, they sent hundreds of letters offering advertising space (Richard's mother gave money to buy stamps).

They met celebrities and interviewed them. Branson was able to talk with James Baldwin, Jean-Paul Sartre, Mick Jagger, John Lennon and many others.

Back then, Branson didn't think about how celebrities of this stature would agree to talk to a 16-year-old and get published for free in Student magazine. He just took and did, however, like everything else in his life and business.

In the photo: Branson with the fruit of his first serious undertaking - the magazine "Student"

About those times, Richard writes that their life turned into a brilliant chaos, into a party that never ends. They drank beer, dated girls, and interviewed celebrities, but they also worked hard.

Branson hasn't read business books or gone to business school, he's convinced rules are made to be broken. It is recognized that if he began to delve into all the pros and cons of entrepreneurship, he would never have dared to start a business. For several years, Branson and his wife lived on a houseboat. The main places to work were: house, yacht, hammock.

Advertisers appeared, the first thirty thousand copies of the Student magazine that came from the printing house had to be sold. Branson hired students by offering them half-price packs of magazines they could keep the profits for themselves. Some students took magazines for sale and often forgot to repay the debt. But it didn't matter. The main thing is that the magazine gained popularity, people learned about it.

When the circulation became huge, the friends decided to expand the business and sell records. They placed the first ad in the latest issue of the magazine. It was decided to open a record store. Friends agreed with the owner of a shoe store to give them free space ...

The birth of a "virgin"

The question arose of how to name the future record store and the brand as a whole. Comrades sorted out options. Thus the name was born legendary brand- Virgin, which translates from English as "virgin".

At a party in the late 70s, Branson was asked if he named his business after the Virgin Islands? He replies that at that time he had never been to the Virgin Islands, but called his company that because he himself was a virgin in business at that time. Later, the businessman bought Necker Island, located in the Vergina Islands.

Regions where Virgin Group companies operate: Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Russia (Internet Service Provider), UK, USA.

The total turnover is in the tens of billions of dollars and continues to grow ($24 billion in 2012).

Personal life

Branson is married for the second time and has two children. He admits that his wife Joan, with whom he has been together for over 40 years, supports all his crazy ideas and undertakings and he is happy that he met such a woman in his life. He has two children: daughter Holy and son Samuel.

Pictured: Richard Branson and Joan Templeman's wedding

How Richard Branson built a conglomerate of 300 companies from scratch

To bookmarks

The site browser studied the history of the formation of Richard Branson and his Virgin group of companies, which is engaged in many lines of business - from mobile communications to space flight. The material tells how adventurism, love of risk and perseverance made Branson one of the most talked about entrepreneurs in the world.

Richard Branson is perhaps one of the brightest entrepreneurs of our time. His company is akin to a billionaire himself - the clearest example of success, created with the help of an unconventional culture, risky business models and a clear understanding of the necessary trends.

The Virgin Group is now a conglomerate that includes record labels, music stores, an airline, space tourism, its own publications and more. The founder of the company did all this, in fact, on his own, fulfilling his main rule - “to hell with everything, take it and do it”.

One of the main advantages of the company was the use of the latest British Class Z90 Pendolino trains. However, in 2007, Virgin Trains was in serious trouble when a train crashed near the city of Greyrigg. 88 passengers were injured and one died. This incident caused a serious resonance in society.

In order to soften the blow to the company, Richard Branson hastened to pay compensation to the victims, and he himself made a statement in which he promised to improve infrastructure and trains. These promises were kept, which increased the level of public confidence.

Gradually, the number of Virgin Trains flights grew - largely due to the increase in the number of transport trains to 86. The company continued its growth as part of the Virgin Rail Group. In 2014, the income of the group of companies in this area reached $465 million per month.

Virgin Trains is currently one of the best rail companies in the UK and is looking to further extend its contract with the government department for transport, which ends in 2017.

In 1999, another conglomerate company, Virgin Mobile, began its work. The reason for its founding Branson called the need to ensure quality cellular communication around the world. The company is the world's first virtual mobile operator, which, without having its own towers, uses the networks of existing ones.

Live rejoicing, work from the heart, and the money will come /Richard Branson

Have you ever met people who umm.. awl in one place? Energetic, assertive, active - it seems that they have a couple of clones, because they can do several things at the same time with the same enthusiasm. Their seething energy can be envied, and the ability to direct it in the right direction can be learned.

Today you will meet one of these people - I present to you Sir Richard Branson, one of the richest people Great Britain, the founder of the international corporation Virgin, a record-setter in aeronautics, an ambassador for peace and the owner of his own island.

This is one of the most brilliant and talented businessmen in the world, whom I truly admire and who is an example for me to follow.

His name is inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records, and according to Forbes magazine in March 2012, his fortune rolls over $ 4 billion, making him the 4th richest person in the UK. How does he manage to combine success in business with sports achievements and reach heights in many areas of activity? Let's figure it out.

He began his life path like everyone else - he was born to his mother and father. This significant event took place on July 18, 1950 in Surrey, one of the counties of Great Britain.

It should be noted that my mother's specific upbringing was remembered by our hero for a long time. For example, Mrs. Branson could have given a task to 4-year-old Richard to find his way home on his own, stopping the car a couple of miles from the cottage. For the 11-year-old son, the mother invented more difficult tasks: waking up at dawn, she supplied Richard with dry rations (“you will get water on the way”) and sent him on a bike ride to relatives living 80 km from home.

Branson admits that it was his mother who brought up determination and courage in him. To all parents, take note!

In his book Fuck It All, Get It Done, Richard proudly recalls some of her actions. It is significant that the meeting future mrs. Branson and Richard's father took place just because of her character. In the post-war years, she wanted to become a flight attendant, but here she was waiting for insidious "no": it was impossible to get this job without knowledge of the Spanish language and the education of a nurse.

Richard's mother talked to the receptionist at the airline, who quietly added her name to the list of future stewardesses. And soon she was already offering drinks to the passengers of the plane, where she met her future husband. Richard himself calls the word "impossible" miserable, and is sure that it should be excluded from the lexicon. On this I fully agree with him.

Richard's father was from a highly respected family, Richard's grandfather received a knighthood for impeccable service in Supreme Court. However, Richard himself earned this honorary title with his achievements, in 1999 he knelt before the Queen of Great Britain.

In the family, according to Richard's memoirs, idleness and laziness were viewed negatively: "My parents wanted us to grow up strong and learn to rely on ourselves." The Bransons taught their children—there were four of them in total—from an early age to think about such "adult" topics as projects for profit.

“Over a family dinner, we often talked about business”, says Richard. Personally, I think this approach in raising children is right. After all, a family, ideally, should be a friendly team in which everyone, to the best of his ability, contributes to the common cause.

Richard had an early craving for entrepreneurship, as a child he was engaged in breeding budgerigars for sale, then growing Christmas trees for Christmas. These projects did not bring the expected, however, the lack of ideas was not his main problem.

If with family education, which gave Richard the skills to overcome obstacles, everything was fine with him, then there were difficulties with studying at school. Branson Jr. suffered from dyslexia, which manifested itself in the fact that the guy could neither read nor write normally.

Because of this illness, classmates teased Richard mercilessly, and the teachers were not enthusiastic about the weak student. However, Richard was a good football player and was kept at the school as a "sporting pride".

After Richard's injury, his football career ended. Branson could not afford to be an outsider, and began to memorize those texts that he could not read. Thus, he developed a good memory, which became a real lifesaver for him in difficult cases.

Richard did not agree to go with the flow as a teenager

He was full of ideas on how to improve the life of the students. The principal of the school invited Richard to organize the publication of a newspaper for peers, and thus began Branson's first commercially successful project. Richard took the idea and transformed it in his own way - he decided to publish a newspaper for students that could interest both schoolchildren and students higher institutions.

It was here, at the stage of creating his magazine "Student", that his adventurism manifested itself. Without a single issue in print, Branson called potential advertisers.

Richard had no money for these endless calls, but he came up with the idea of calling from a pay phone to a telephone exchange, and, complaining that the connection was cut off - in those days it was not uncommon - he demanded that the conversation be restored.

The telephone operator connected him to the subscriber and uttered the standard phrase: "Mr. Branson will talk to you." In this simple way, he killed two birds with one stone - he called for free, and created the image of a "tough boss" holding his own secretary.

So I want to exclaim - handsome!

Just think, could you do something similar? Would you have had such fortitude, adventurism and ingenuity? It would seem such a trifle, but no! It is from such trifles that ordinary people are not capable of that successful and successful people.

The methods of persuading advertisers were different, for example, he informed Coca-Cola managers that Pepsi had already placed ads with him. As for the content of magazine columns, Richard solved this problem simply: he sent letters to celebrities with a polite request to reflect on youth issues. The answers from a couple of "stars" were enough for the first issues of the magazine.

He can be safely called the Great Schemer, Monsieur Bender could be proud of his British colleague, with such audacity and passion to bring his ideas to life.

The first issue of "Student" came out when Richard was 16 years old! The magazine gained popularity, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Jean-Paul Sartre and others gave interviews in it. Well, Branson began to receive his first income from advertising in this publication. This was followed by a project to distribute records by mail.

At this time, the name Virgin was born (from the English virgin), which gave life to the whole brand. Brand positioned Branson as a "newcomer to the business", which he, however, was.

Now the conglomerate Virgin Group unites under its wing dozens of companies in the fields of sound recording, air travel, mobile communications, television, beverage production and ... this is only part of the list. Whoever demands "announce the entire list" - let him look at the company's website http://www.virgin.com.

Here are just a few of the companies Sir Richard owns:

airline,
rail transportation,
mobile operator,
chain of fitness centers
book publishing,
balloon flights,
Online Games,
radio station,
medical services,
Internet provider (by the way, it also works in Russia)
cable TV,
finance company,
and much more…

By the way, I first heard about Branson when I listened to Bodo Schaefer's audiobook, The Art of Managing Your Time. There he cited him as an example, as a person who manages to manage more than 220 companies at the same time. True, the translators got caught by those who called our hero Rikhon Bransos.

Even then I was extremely surprised by this and, I confess, it did not fit into the framework of my worldview. I then worked for hire and it was difficult for me to imagine not only 220 companies at the same time, but how to own and manage one company.

This became one of the starting points for my further personal growth and change in thinking, understanding and views on my future life.

In 1972, together with friend Nick Powell, Branson founded the recording studio Virgin Records. The release of musician Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells in 1973 was Richard's breakthrough big business.

Oldfield's debut album immediately occupied the top lines of the world charts and became the best-selling in England in 1973, having sold 2 million copies.

Richard recognizes the next contract of the Virgin Records studio with the punk band Sex Pistols as the most profitable in his life. How does he manage to make money where others see no benefit?

Large recording studios did not want to take on the "promotion" of Oldfield and the Sex Pistols. Richard Branson differs from many with an innovative look, and he is not stopped by the wording "it's not accepted" or "nobody does it that way."

In 1998, in New York, advertising Virgin Cola, Branson managed to get on the front pages of the press without paying a cent. Richard drove a tank (!) to Times Square, the most visited and popular square in the city, and fired pyrotechnic rockets at a billboard of his rival Cola-Cola. Bang bang - and the PR company is ready!

Well, about how in London “Mr. Epatage” climbed onto a construction crane and waved his mobile phone for half an hour, advertising Virgin Mobile (by the way, the fastest growing cellular operator in the UK), I generally keep quiet.

“Like an adult,” you might say, “but he does this.” But I assure you that Branson does these things not for money, but for his own pleasure.

Lust for life, the ability to rejoice and play pranks, as in childhood, distinguishes the eccentric billionaire from other owners of business empires: « I love to learn new things, I am very inquisitive. I like to take something settled and turn it upside down“. This inquisitiveness pushes Branson to new feats.

I really like this trait in Richard. In fact, he has everything he needs. He can attract dozens of experienced advertisers to advertise his businesses, but he himself takes to the streets to promote his projects.

Many businessmen, having become successful, put on a mask of importance and hide behind the doors of their offices. Richard Branson is completely different. Being human retirement age he lives like a reckless boy, but at the same time a very smart boy.

I would really like to have the same attitude to life at his age. The absence of complexes, the denial of habitual stereotypes and life by its own rules - this is what distinguishes our hero from other people. Remember this!

In 1986, he set the world record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on the high-speed catamaran Virgin Atlantic Challenger II. In 1987, for the first time in the history of mankind, he made a transatlantic flight in a balloon Virgin Atlantic Flyer. In 1991, he broke the record for the longest flight by overcoming the Pacific Ocean. In 1999, as part of a team from Switzerland, he made a round-the-world flight in a hot air balloon. In 2004, Branson set the speed record for crossing the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle in 1 hour and 40 minutes. But this time can easily be spent just to get to work ...

Sometimes only a miracle saved Richard Branson from inevitable death, but our hero strives to surpass himself always and everywhere, on vacation and at work: man to surpass himself.

I liked the way Oleg Tinkov described Branson in the preface to Richard Branson's autobiographical book Losing My Virginity:

They were crazy. Rebels of the spirit and troublemakers, they did not fit into the usual. They did not recognize the rules, they were disgusted with stability. If you look closely, flying in a balloon is an illustration of Branson's fate - a daring stunt that can turn into a dizzying success or complete collapse.

Branson is unique! Possessing tenacious business acumen and a free flight of dreams, not constrained by rules, he easily and naturally proves to us that there is no limit. People like him can change the world. Read the “rebel bible”, admire and follow the example! As long as such people are born, life is not boring.

This bright showman, a self-made person, never looks for reasons, but looks for opportunities, and does not stop at imaginary barriers. Perhaps your mind sometimes whispered to you that dreams are “impossible”, but for “not enough money / talent / courage / health (underline as appropriate)?

Branson will answer all doubts simply: "To hell with everything, take it and do it!"

Virgin Group employees nicknamed their boss "Mr. Yes":

– Can you fly over the ocean in a hot air balloon?

- Yes! - Branson answers, and sets new records.

– Can you compete with British Airways?

- Yes! Branson replies and founds the competitive airline Virgin Atlantic Airways.

– Is it possible to launch commercial flights into space?

- Yes! Branson replies as he prepares to fly into space aboard his first passenger spaceship SpaceShipTwo by Virgin Galactic.

British billionaire Richard Branson- this is a great example of how people, even turning into rich and respectable adult men, sometimes do not forget to turn into a child. For Branson, all his business and huge income is just a way to entertain himself while making the world a better place at the same time. And today we will tell not only about the most impressive projects this businessman, but also about him completely crazy antics.

life and incredible adventures Richard Branson, writers Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstrale illustrate their acclaimed book Funky Business, which deals with the role of talent and spontaneity in the business world, in bringing the most innovative and successful projects. The British billionaire, in this case, fits these principles better than anyone else.

Branson knows what it's like to go against the rules, what it's like to be yourself even with bank account billions of dollars, and how to enjoy life to the maximum while being the head of a large international corporation with tens of thousands of employees. The businessman himself claims that he gives only 40 percent of his time to the cause, and the remaining 60 goes to entertainment.

Richard Branson is unique example the fact that even expensive hobbies based on crazy childhood dreams can be turned into a large, innovative business, which is regularly written about by the best publications in the world.

virgin group

The basis of Richard Branson's business is the Virgin Group corporation, which began in 1970 with the opening of a record store in the English city of Notting Hill. Over time alone a store has grown to become the world's largest network music stores. Success in this business gave Branson and his partners the means to develop other ventures.

The Virgin Group is now made up of dozens of companies in the recording and sales of music and video, air travel, book and video game publishing, telecommunications, media, by rail, the production of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, as well as many other types of business. But most of all, the selfless projects of Richard Branson, aimed at studying the terrestrial, underwater and outer space, are heard.

From what has been written above, it can be understood that Branson in business took only those cases that were interesting to him personally, which brought him pleasure. Each direction of his activity is essentially an exciting hobby, which is pleasant and exciting to do.

But for the general public, Richard Branson is not only a businessman, but also a well-known media person who has tried himself in a huge number of activities. Below we will try to list what the extraordinary English billionaire will remember for posterity.

Virgin Racing Team

What kid doesn't dream of racing? This desire did not bypass Richard Branson. He himself was engaged in auto racing, but he did not achieve much success in this. Another thing is working as a manager in motor sports. Virgin Corporation first turned its attention to Formula 1 competition in 2009, becoming a sponsor of the newly formed Brawn GP team.

In the very first season, Brawn GP achieved serious success - won the constructors' championship, and therefore the next year the cost of the sponsorship contract increased significantly, and Branson decided to create his own team in Formula 1, so Virgin Racing appeared.

True, Virgin Racing did not score a single point in its first season. At the end of 2010, one of the sponsors of the team was the Russian car brand Marussia, headed by showman and racing driver Nikolai Fomenko, but in the 2011 season, Marussia Virgin Racing also never finished in the end zone. After that, Richard Branson lost interest in racing and completely handed over the reins of the team to his Russian partners.

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic appeared in 2004 after the news that the SpaceShipOne spacecraft team was the first in the world to win the X-Prize - an award that relies on two successful flights within two weeks of one ship into suborbital space (100 kilometers above the Earth's surface and above). ).

Branson, who had previously followed the success of the SpaceShipOne team, decided to become part of it, taking the pioneers of private space exploration under his wing. own company Virgin Galactic. He sponsored the construction of the new SpaceShipTwo subrobital shuttle, as well as the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft.

The technology, first successfully tested on SpaceShipOne, involves launching a space shuttle into the sky on a booster plane. Having risen as a load to a height of several tens of kilometers, the spacecraft separates and flies further on its own. He overcomes a height of 100 kilometers, beyond which, as it is believed, the Cosmos begins. The ship stays there for several minutes, after which it descends to the ground. Everyone who was on board at that moment can be considered astronauts.

Thus, Branson, through the activities of the Virgin Galactic company, is going to turn space tourism into a fairly common activity. After all, the price of such a flight is 250 thousand dollars, while a trip to orbit with Russian cosmonauts costs 10 million.

In search of autonomy, Virgin Galactic built its own spaceport, Spaceport America, in the state of New Mejimo. It is also the launching pad for other private space exploration companies, including SpaceX.

Richard Branson personally takes part in the activities of Virgin Galactic. He, among other things, was one of the first passengers of SpaceShipTwo.

True, the start of commercial flights of the SpaceShipTwo shuttle, which was scheduled for 2010, is constantly being postponed. And, apparently, postponed this date for several years.

Virgin Oceanic

In order to be a pioneer in our time, it is not necessary to fly into space. Indeed, very close to us, on Earth, there are many places where a person has not yet been. And most of them are located in the depths of the World Ocean, which are not explored by people even by five percent.

The new initiative of Richard Branson, the company, is aimed specifically at studying the underwater spaces of our planet. This is a joint project of the British billionaire with navy and explorer Chris Welsh.

And it all started with the death of another famous businessman and adventurer - Steve Fossett. By his order, an underwater vehicle called the DeepFlight Challenger, similar to an airplane, was built. Welsh and Branson decided to continue their friend's business, bought it out vehicle and created Virgin Oceanic.

The DeepFlight Challenger can dive to super-great depths, including the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Paradoxically, people have only been to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, ignoring the other oceans of the Earth. And Virgin Oceanic plans to correct this unfortunate misunderstanding by exploring the deepest and most inaccessible areas of the underwater world of our planet.

After all, almost 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water. About ninety percent of all living beings on the planet live in it. But at the same time, Mankind knows so little about what is happening under water.

In order not to be a financial burden for the founders, Virgin Oceanic also organizes commercial dives to shallow depths and conducts comfortable sightseeing tours of the seas and oceans.

Business style

Richard Branson has always distinguished himself from other major businessmen with his desire for innovation, the desire not to stop there, as well as the eternal search for new challenges to himself and ways to solve them.

Branson's business is focused on meeting the needs of the client, even if the buyer himself does not know what he needs. As an example, we can cite at least the standby mode when people try to get through to the customer service of companies from Virgin Corporation. Usually, the person who called there gets on the answering machine and is forced to nervously wait for his turn to talk to the operator. In the case of Virgin, the customer hears the voice of Branson himself, who promises him a compensation of $100 if the operator does not respond within ten minutes. As a result, the person, the place to swear, happily hangs on the line, hoping that he will not be connected to customer service for as long as possible.

Richard Branson himself loves all kinds of innovations and technical innovations, while trying to implement the best of them in his business. For example, the Virgin Atlantic airline has begun using Google Glass smart glasses in its operations. They can be seen on airport check-in workers, as well as flight attendants on some flights. This device with the help of a camera can recognize regular customers, as well as enter information about their preferences and interests into the database. And it takes customer service to a whole new level.

Sports and records

Like the aforementioned Steve Fossett, Richard Branson strives all his life to adventure and set new records. For example, a British businessman was trying to win the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic - a prize for the fastest ocean crossing in a watercraft. In 1985, this attempt was a failure, but a year later, Branson did get his way.

Richard Branson owns many achievements in balloon flights (he crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean in this way). The founder of Virgin also set a speed record for crossing the English Channel (1 hour 40 minutes and 6 seconds) and many other records, you can’t remember everything.

Charity projects

Richard Branson is also known as one of the world's largest patrons and philanthropists. He takes an active part in the fight against global warming, the search and implementation of alternative sources of energy and fuel. In 2007, he initiated the opening of Virgin Health Bank, the first institution in the world where parents can freeze stem cells from a child's umbilical cord so that they can be used in the future in the treatment of serious diseases.

In 2007, Richard Branson, along with Nelson Mandela, founded the Elders, a group of rich and powerful people who are actively involved in charitable projects, striving to make the world a better, happier and safer place. It includes well-known politicians and social activists, businessmen and philosophers.

extravagant antics

But most of all, Richard Branson is known to the world for his extravagant behavior. A big businessman is not ashamed to openly fool around and get involved in scandals. So Branson appears in the tabloid chronicle as often, if not more often than on the pages of Forbes and Businessweek.

For example, during the opening of the Virgin Bride bridal salon, Richard Branson appeared in a bridesmaid dress, and advertising a Virgin Cola carbonated drink, he drove through Times Square in New York on a tank and shot a Coca-Cola billboard out of it.

Richard Branson skied naked in front of everyone, deliberately doused Princess Diana with champagne, showed the public the underwear of Yvonne Trump, the wife of billionaire Donald Trump, and dressed as a flight attendant served passengers on one of the flights of his own airline Air Asia, after he lost a dispute to a Malaysian to businessman Tony Fernandez regarding Virgin Racing's 2010 Formula 1 results.

But if for other companies and businessmen such behavior would be the beginning of serious problems with the reputation and, consequently, the business itself, then the scandalous antics of Richard Branson only draw attention to him and the Virgin corporation. The world has learned to forgive the extravagant British billionaire for his antics, admiring this boyish immediacy.

It might be useful to read: