Richard Branson
...his Virgin brand of over 360 companies. Branson's first successful business venture was at age 16, when he published a magazine called Student.[1] He then set up a record mail-order business in 1970. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores and rebranded as Zavvi in late 2007. With his flamboyant and competitive style, Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s - as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label. Richard Branson is the 245th richest person according to Forbes' 2008 list of billionaires as he has an estimated net worth of approximately $2.8 billion USD.[2]
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Early life
* 2 Record business
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Business ventures
* 5 Humanitarian initiatives
* 6 World record attempts
* 7 Television, film, and print
* 8 Politics
* 9 Business practices
* 10 Honours
* 11 See also
* 12 Notes
* 13 References
* 14 External links
[edit] Early life
Branson was born at Stonefield Nursing Home in Blackheath, South London, the son of Edward James Branson and Eve Branson (née Huntley Flindt).[3] His grandfather, the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a Judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor.[4] Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School (now Bishopsgate School)[5] until the age of thirteen. He then attended Stowe School until he was fifteen. Branson had poor academic performance as a student, yet by the age of fifteen he had started two ventures that eventually failed: one growing Christmas trees and another raising budgerigars[citation needed].
At seventeen, Branson left school and moved to London, where he began his first successful business, Student magazine. When he was seventeen, he opened his first charity, the "Student...
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