Richard Branson
Birdslip
Sir Richard Branson was born in Surrey, England on the 18th of July, 1950. His mother was a flight attendant while his father was a lawyer. Branson suffers from dyslexia, a reading disorder that makes it very difficult for people to read, spell and write words correctly. Because of his condition, Branson performed poorly in school, eventually dropping out at a very young age.
Branson ventured into the business world as a teenager. He launched his first business at the age of 16. It was a magazine named Student. From there, he ventured into the music world. He launched Virgin Mail Order Records which led to Virgin Records Label. Virgin Records grew to become one of the biggest record labels in the world, with artists such as Spice Girls, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, and George Michael.
In 1984, Branson invested in an airline and became its majority shareholder. The airline was rebranded to Virgin Atlantic Airlines. The airline started out with only one aircraft, but has grown to nearly 40 aircrafts today. The Virgin Group is now made up of more than 400 different companies, putting Sir Richard Branson's current net worth at $4.3 Billion.
In the year 2000, Sir Richard Branson was knighted by the Queen for his 'Service to Entrepreneurship' in the retail, music and transportation sectors. Richard Branson is globally known for his love for extreme adventure. In 1991, Branson travelled in a balloon from the Pacific in Japan to the Arctic in Canada, a distance of more than 10,000 km. He broke the record, travelling at a speed of 233km/hr.
In 2004, Branson launched Virgin Galactic as a space tourism airline to provide trips to space for regular citizens. In 2021, Branson along with three other employees flew to space in the Virgin Galactic aircraft. The cost of a Virgin Galactic trip to space is currently $450,000 per person. There is already a waiting list of more than 700 tourists.
Virgin, a group of 400 companies built by a boy who dropped out of school because he could not read and write properly.
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