BIG STORY Sir Richard Branson is one of those selfmade entrepreneurs from a very well-to-do background whose omnipresence is such that there’s a good chance you cannot recall seeing him on the television for the first time.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON ADHD, dyslexia and more
However, underneath all of the evident, external, charismatic charm, academia and mental health wellbeing haven’t always been his best life journey companions. By Alan Wares
If you didn’t know better, one might be convinced he’d enrolled at drama school; he has undertaken so many TV and film roles, almost exclusively playing himself, such is his omnipresence. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born in Blackheath, London on July 18th 1950. His father was an eminent barrister, his mother a former ballet dancer, air steward and entrepreneur. He comes from a long line – on his father’s side – of well-regarded, senior people who have operated within the UK judiciary system.
EARLY DAYS
His first entrepreneurial venture was at the age of 16, founding the magazine ‘Student’ in 1966 with his friend Nik Powell. During the magazine’s lifetime, he interviewed the likes of Mick Jagger and eminent psychiatrist RD Laing. Branson opened his first record shop in Oxford Street, London in 1971. In 1972, using money earned from his record store, Branson launched the record
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label Virgin Records with Powell. The name ‘Virgin’ was suggested by one of Branson’s early employees because they were all new at business. One of the first shops opened after the Oxford Street store was in Queens Road, Brighton, and it stayed open in that location until the early 1980s before moving to Western Road. Meanwhile, Branson had bought a country estate near Oxford – always nice to get that family leg-up – in which he installed a recording studio. He leased studio time to hitherto unknown artists, where his first, and still one of his greatest, success was the multiPlatinum selling Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield (1973). By 1979, Branson, still not a major player in the music industry, and very much considered an ‘independent’, was considered to be worth £5 million (about £28 million today). It was around this time he made his first foray into travel and holidays.
