Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group in the 1970s, which controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age.

• Richard Branson owes his fortune to a conglomerate of businesses bearing the “Virgin” brand name, including Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Galactic.
• The son of a barrister and flight attendant, Branson got his start with a mail-order record business some 50 years ago.
• He primarily lives on a luxe British Virgin Islands retreat, Necker Island, which he bought for $180,000 in 1978.
• Alaska Air acquired his Virgin America airline in 2016, a move he opposed but didn’t have the votes to stop.
• Branson is getting into the cruise business with Virgin Voyages, expected to take its first passengers in 2020.