Tweet

Richard Branson Biography

Article Overview: Much like the public has come to expect the unexpected from this unpredictable British entrepreneur, so too is the Richard Branson biography a story of ups and downs, antics and wild behaviour, and both successes and failures. To learn about this Virgin Knight is to understand more about a man who has refused to follow convention, who has pursued and achieved his dreams his way, and who seems to have had more fun than most along the way.

Richard Branson Biography

Much like the public has come to expect the unexpected from this unpredictable British entrepreneur, so too is the Richard Branson biography a story of ups and downs, antics and wild behaviour, and both successes and failures. To learn about this Virgin Knight is to understand more about a man who has refused to follow convention, who has pursued and achieved his dreams his way, and who seems to have had more fun than most along the way.

This is a story that begins on July 18, 1950 in Shamley Green, Surrey, England. Growing up in a traditional family, Branson struggled throughout school due to an as of yet undiagnosed problem of dyslexia. He excelled in sports, serving as the captain of both his school’s football and cricket teams, but it was in business that he found his true calling. Despite failing in two early ventures – growing Christmas trees and raising Australian parrots – he was determined to create his own successful business.

When he was 16 years old, he dropped out of school to move to London and launch Student Magazine, which did see relatively more success. But, it was in founding the Virgin mail order record company three years later that his life would become something of real significance. His success in selling mail order records led to the opening of a record shop on Oxford Street in London, and soon after, Branson’s very own record label, Virgin Records.

The success of Virgin Records allowed Branson to buy an estate in the country, on which he built a recording studio and leased time out to struggling artists. On May 25, 1973, the Richard Branson biography took on a whole new dimension with the release of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells – the first release for Virgin Records, which quickly became a best-seller throughout England. In a relatively short period, what Branson started as a mail order company had become one of the more significant record labels in the U.K. From thereon out, Virgin Records would continue to know much mainstream success.

On the road to success, this life story would also be filled with much controversy. From signing notorious bands such as the Sex Pistols to purchasing the gay nightclub Heaven and entering the struggling airline industries with Virgin Atlantic, Branson has not shied away from challenging pursuits. Indeed, it seems to be the very challenge that he has been after.

Despite selling the Virgin record label to EMI in 1992, the entrepreneur continues to make headlines: he was in the news after launching Virgin Galactic, a new space tourism company, in 2004; he established a school for entrepreneurship in South Africa; and, more recently, he committed to investing $3 billion of Virgin’s profits over the next ten years to help in the fight against global warming.

The Richard Branson biography is not your typical story of business success. Branson has used eccentric means and traveled unconventional roads to get to where he is today, but sitting atop a fortune of almost $8 billion, few can question his entrepreneurial savvy.

Related Articles
  Branding the "Branson Way"
  Richard Bransons Wisdom
  100 Ways to Succeed #90
  Lesson #2: Build A Powerful Brand
  Life Is Good

Article Tags: australian parrots, british entrepreneur, christmas trees, cricket teams, dyslexia, early ventures, mail order company, new dimension, oldfields, oxford street, record labels, richard branson biography, schools football, surrey england, true calling, tubular bells, ups, ups and downs, virgin knight, virgin records



Related Forum Posts
Losing My Virginity - I would like to second what Jennifer said about the recommendation of Richard Branson's book, "Losing My Virginity." This story-line book shows the inner-workings of the brilliant entrepreneur from his beginnings at age 11 when he first started his own magazine publication. This will allow a glimpse into the personality and mind-set that allowed Richard Branson to eventually become the entrepreneurial success that he is today. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. A very informative read. -Brandon
You don't need a degree to be an Entrepreneur - You don't need a dergree to be an entrepreneur, if in doubt please ask Bill Gates Micheal Dell Richard Branson and host of others ....................
The Virgin - Richard Branson is the one that always comes to my mind and I know there are loads of others. Well done - where your heart is is where success is - in whatever shape or form it takes. You'll do well - even if we all have to hold you to account now that you've told us! Regards
Re: Meltdown in the Financial Markets - So what do we learn from this? As GT said it means we should not put our eggs in one basket. the same could be said of buying shares. You should invest in many companies not just one. If one collapses you will be able to gain from the ones that are making profit. All said and done there is nothing like having your own businesses. Having multipple streams of income is the best way to go in this uncertain times. I learnt that Richard Branson have 320 different companies.
Youtube Tags and fake newscasts - in addition to using Tags I also suggest using a video editing software to embed a line of text at the bottom of your video's to point to your site. I've seen some video where people make their video's look like a news release from a news channel (made up news channel). This is no different that submitting an ad in the newspaper and making it look like an article. Keep the video entertaining with some Richard Branson theatrics...


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

SEO Gurus, Software and Ebooks

Five Daily Marketing Habits to Increase Sales

Severance and Separation Agreements

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.