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Famous
Entrepreneurs > Richard Branson
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Richard
Branson
Sir Richard Branson (born July 18, 1950) a famed
British entrepreneur, is best known for his widely successful Virgin
brand, a banner that encompasses a variety of business organizations.
Branson first achieved notoriety with Virgin Records, a record label
that started out with multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield and introduced
bands like the Sex Pistols and Culture Club to the world music scene.
Known for his wacky exploits used to promote his businesses, Branson
is keen on playful antagonisms, exemplified by his "Mine is bigger
than yours" decals on the new Airbus A340-600 jets used by his
airline. He has also made several unsuccessful attempts to fly in
a hot air balloon around the world.
The hot air balloon, called the "Virgin Atlantic Flyer,"
was the first hot air balloon ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and
was the largest ever flown at 60.513 m³ (2,137,000 ft³)
volume, reaching speeds in excess of 130 mph (209 km/h). |
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In 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic
Canada, a distance of 7,672 km (4,767 miles), but their track took
them a claimed 10,885 km. This again broke all existing records
with speeds of up to 245 mph in a balloon measuring 60.513 m³.
He formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, launched Virgin Mobile
in 1999, and later failed in a 2000 bid to handle the National Lottery.
He has also started a European short-haul airline, Virgin Express.
In October 2003, he announced he would be teaming up with balloonist
Steve Fossett to attempt to break the record for a non-stop flight
around the world. A new aircraft, the GlobalFlyer, will be built
specially for the attempt by Scaled Composites.
In 1993 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Technology
from Loughborough University.
He became Sir Richard Branson when he was knighted by the Queen
in 1999 for his business prowess and exuberance for the spirit of
the United Kingdom.
On September 25, 2004 he announced the signing of a deal under which
a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology
behind SpaceShipOne to take paying passengers into suborbital space.
He has guest starred, playing himself, on several television shows,
including Friends, Baywatch and Only Fools and Horses. He also is
the star of a new reality television show on Fox called The Rebel
Billionaire where sixteen contestants will be tested for their entrepreneurship
and their sense of adventure.
Sir Richard appears at No. 85 on the 2002 List of "100 Greatest
Britons" (sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public).
Branson's high public profile often leaves him open as a figure
of satire - the 2000AD series Zenith featured a parody of Branson
as a supervillian as at the time the comic's publisher and favoured
distributor and the Virgin group were in competition.
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