Mr. Richard Branson was born on July 18, 1950 in London, England he is a very successful businessman and investor. He is the founder of the Virgin Group and his current net worth as of Sept 2015 is 4.9 Billion dollars. This is largely in part to his some 400 companies that live under the roof of the Virgin Group. At the age of fifteen he knew he would be a success with anything he touched. My good friend Paul Maddalena introduced me to Richard Branson and some of the other great technological entrepreneurs of our time like Elon Musk. I’m thankful for hard working entrepreneurs like Paul, Richard and Elon as I believe it is people like them who truly make the world go around.
At that young age he launched a magazine called the student. No more than two years later in 1972 he would go down his path of opening multiple Virgin stores. These stores would be the home of all types of music and would be a giant in the industry. This quick climb to success would lead to record labels under the Virgin umbrella.
You can get the whole history of Virgin Records here.
As a young child Richard struggled in school due in part to his dyslexia, but that never stopped him from pursuing what he knew he had inside. His teachers would give him a hard time and ride him, saying not so friendly things about the future billionaire. His disability obviously kept him not so interested in school and listening to a robot of a teacher so he made his own path. He did have one teach who did believe Mr. Branson would be a success in life while the majority thought he would end up dead or in jail. He would prove people wrong at the age of fifteen when he began to blaze his own path to success.
The Student Magazine was the beginning of proving all of his doubters wrong and proving himself right. His magazine was an immediate success, a young Richard never doubted it. The overnight success was due in large part to all of the A-list celebrities he interviewed. He had sit downs with Mick Jagger and R.D. Laing they were huge figures in the 60’s. This is when he took the “Virgin” title and trademarked it as his own, that move would forever change the course of his companies future. The story behind the Virgin name is one of genius actually. One of Mr. Branson’s first employee’s brought to his attention how they were all, “new to business so technically we are “Virgins in this game”. That is how the brand name was born.
From the time Richard decided to launch his magazine and record label from his local church, he was destined to become the entrepreneur he is today. He has created several business and contributed to society like no other. You have Virgin Records, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Blue, the list goes on and on. Richard Branson has expanded his vast empire to heights only people can dream of. Mr. Branson is another example of an entrepreneur who was doubted from the beginning, he was doubted because of a disability but he ultimately overcame any obstacle thrown his way.
The Virgin brand was built from the bottom up with heart, dedication, consistency and an unbreakable vision. I hope this can provide you with some daily motivation as you blaze your own path.
Richard Branson Quote-
“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming”