Background and career
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and, as of 2016, controlled five companies.
Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records—later known as Virgin Megastores—in 1972. His Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started the Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In 1997 he founded the Virgin Rail Group to bid for passenger rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. The Virgin Trains brand operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 1997 to 2019, the InterCity CrossCountry franchise from 1997 to 2007 and the InterCity East Coast franchise from 2015 to 2018. In 2004, he founded the space tourism company Virgin Galactic, based at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, United States, noted for the SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane.
In March 2000, Branson was knighted for "services to entrepreneurship". Due to his work in retail, music and transport, his taste for adventure and for his humanitarian work, he has become a prominent global figure. In 2007 he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time magazine. In June 2023, Forbes magazine listed Branson's estimated net worth at US$3 billion.
Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on 18 July 1950 in Blackheath, London, the son of Edward James Branson (1918–2011), a barrister, and his wife, Evette Huntley Branson (née Flindt; 1924–2021), a ballet dancer and air hostess. He has two younger sisters, Lindy and Vanessa. His paternal grandfather, Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor.
Branson's great-great-great-grandfather John Edward Branson left England for India in 1793; John Edward's father, Harry Wilkins Branson, later joined his son in Madras. Starting from 1793, four generations of Branson's family lived in India, mostly at Cuddalore, in modern-day Tamil Nadu. On the television series Finding Your Roots Branson was shown to have 3.9% South Asian (Indian) DNA, likely through intermarriage. He later said that one of his great-great-great-grandmothers was an Indian named Ariya.
How Richard Branson makes money
In June 2023, Forbes magazine listed Branson's estimated net worth at US$3 billion. The first issue of Student appeared in January 1968, and a year later, Branson's net worth was estimated at £50,000 (equivalent to £730,000 in 2025). The matter was never brought before a court because Branson agreed to repay any unpaid purchase tax of 33% and a £70,000 fine.
