Richard Branson Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Updated 1618 GMT (0018 HKT) August 24, 2021

Richard Branson, seen here at an air show in 2012, is a self-made billionaire who has a large conglomerate of businesses under the Virgin brand.
Photos: Billionaire tycoon Richard Branson
Richard Branson, seen here at an air show in 2012, is a self-made billionaire who has a large conglomerate of businesses under the Virgin brand.
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A young Branson is seen in London in 1969. At the age of 16, Branson dropped out of school and started an alternative youth magazine called Student. He and his friend Nik Powell also started a mail-order record business. It was called Virgin because they were new to the business world.
Photos: Billionaire tycoon Richard Branson
A young Branson is seen in London in 1969. At the age of 16, Branson dropped out of school and started an alternative youth magazine called Student. He and his friend Nik Powell also started a mail-order record business. It was called Virgin because they were new to the business world.
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Branson poses in one of his Virgin Megastores in 1979. His mail-order record business had evolved into a chain of successful record stores. By this time, Branson also had started his Virgin Records music label. Over the years, Virgin would sign notable artists such as the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones and Genesis.
Photos: Billionaire tycoon Richard Branson
Branson poses in one of his Virgin Megastores in 1979. His mail-order record business had evolved into a chain of successful record stores. By this time, Branson also had started his Virgin Records music label. Over the years, Virgin would sign notable artists such as the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones and Genesis.
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Branson reads the newspaper in a bathtub aboard his houseboat in London in 1984.
Photos: Billionaire tycoon Richard Branson
Branson reads the newspaper in a bathtub aboard his houseboat in London in 1984.
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In 1984. Branson formed the airline Virgin Atlantic. He got the idea after becoming stranded in Puerto Rico when his flight to the British Virgin Islands was canceled because of a lack of passengers. He chartered a private plane and sold tickets aboard the flight to other stranded travelers.
Photos: Billionaire tycoon Richard Branson
In 1984. Branson formed the airline Virgin Atlantic. He got the idea after becoming stranded in Puerto Rico when his flight to the British Virgin Islands was canceled because of a lack of passengers. He chartered a private plane and sold tickets aboard the flight to other stranded travelers.
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Branson inaugurates his new airline on June 22, 1984.
Photos: Billionaire tycoon Richard Branson
Branson inaugurates his new airline on June 22, 1984.
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Branson pilots his speedboat, the Virgin Atlantic Challenger II, in New York Harbor in 1986. He zipped across the Atlantic in a record-breaking time of three days, eight hours and 31 minutes. He tried to break the record a year earlier, but his $2 million vessel sank.