Sir Richard Branson is an English investor and author. He founded the Virgin Groups in the 1970s which controls over 400 different companies.
Richard Branson was born as Richard Charles Nicholas Branson in 1950 in Surrey, England to Edward James Branson and Eve Branson.
As a child, he did not fare well in school. Because of his dyslexia, Branson was always struggling to keep up in school. He went from Scaitcliffe School to the Stowe School, a boarding school in Buckinghamshire, England.
His first business, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student.
He initially started Student after he dropped out of school at 16 (a move that was socially unconventional at the time). Student’s first issue came out in 1966 and sold $8,000 in advertising and 50,000 copies released for free.
In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records. The unfortunate occurrence of a British postal strike in 1971 forced Branson to realign his fledgling record company from a mail-order supplier into a successful discount record retailer in London. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label.
Virgin Records signed on Mike Oldfield as the first artist back in 1973. Oldfield’s song, “Tubuler Bells” topped the UK charts for a staggering 247 weeks. The stunning success of the very first artist that Virgin Records signed clearly shows Branson’s knack to spot talent. This success led to more record deals with now iconic artists such as the Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, and Culture Club. These bands catapulted Virgin Records among the top record companies worldwide. By 1983, Branson's Virgin empire included 50 diverse companies.
Virgin Records, however, was only able to sustain its success for so long. Financial struggles added up by 1992 and the company was having problems just staying afloat. The next year, Branson had to sell it to THORN EMI for $1 billion. Prior to this setback, however, Branson added two travel companies under his belt: the Voyager Group and Virgin Atlantic. His first store in Oxford Street eventually multiplied into a series of Virgin megastores.
Selling Virgin Records wasn’t easy for Branson; it was mentally traumatic. There were reports of him crying after signing the contract. But he did not let the loss stop him from pursuing other achievements in the music business. In the same year of the sale, he opened Virgin Radio. Three years later he was able to establish V2, his second record company that signed on artists like Tom Jones and Powder Finger.
Apart from having to sell Virgin Records, Branson also suffered from other business failures such as Virgin Cola, Virgin Cosmetics, and Virgin Brides. Virgin Cola is the most popular flop, capturing only 0.5% of the US market share. The company had to stop producing the drink in 2012. Virgin Cosmetics’ products ranged from homeware, jewelry, and beauty products. The cosmetic products were sold online and in Virgin stores. Virgin Brides was a short-lived venture, opening different locations in England back in 1996. The last store was closed in 2007.
All these ventures might have shut down, but they truly demonstrate the unstoppable spirit of strive Branson has. Never for a moment did he go into his shell; rather, he learned from every single failure of his and used it as a stepping stone to future success. It also amply shows his innovation streak in venturing into diverse businesses without the fear of losing.
In keeping with his radical business ethic, Branson established an international airline in June 1984, with a single leased airplane. The airline, Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited, survived the threat of foreclosure and in time grew into the world's third-largest transatlantic carrier.