Richard Branson

HISTORY

Richard Branson was born on July 18, 1950 in Shamley Green, Surrey, England. He struggled throughout his school life due to an as of yet undiagnosed problem of dyslexia. He excelled in sports, serving as the caption of both his school’s football and cricket teams, but it was in business that he found his true calling.

His two ventures—growing Christmas trees and raising Australian parrots—were not successful. But the experience he had gained at that age (16) helped him to launch Student Magazine followed by Virgin mail order, which did see relatively more success.

NET WORTH

Branson started with a simple record store, and built Virgin into an absolute powerhouse, turning him into one of the richest men in Britain.

Richard Branson’s net worth is estimated at $5 billion as of 2020.

EARLY LEADERSHIP LESSONS

Branson’s leadership qualities is the most significant reason behind the success of 350 very different companies. Branson believe that his leadership style has its origins in his upbringing, where his parents taught him to stand on his own two feet. At age six, his mother would shove him out of the car and tell him to find his own way home. At age 10, she put her son on a bike to ride 300 miles. These lessons built character, endurance and leadership qualities. 

Branson believes he learned leadership through trial and error, since founding his first company, Student magazine, at age 16. Branson says “You cannot be a goof leader unless you generally like people.

Branson places enormous value on time management skills. As a chairman of large group of firms, Branson says he spend about a third of his time on trouble shooting, another third on new projects, both charitable and business, and the last third on promoting and talking about the business he has set up. He also spend some time for family and vacation.

SUCCESS BEHIND MORE THAN 350 COMPANIES

Branson says “I have had to create company that I believe in 100%. These are companies I feel will make a genuine difference. Then I have to be willing to find the time myself to talk about them, promote them and market them. I do not want to spend my time doing something that I am not proud of.”

HOW BRANSON ENCOURAGE INNOVATION?

The key to encouraging innovation within Virgin ranks, suggests Branson, is to listen to any and all ideas and to offer feedback. Employees often leave companies, he reasons, because they are frustrated by the fact that their ideas fall on deaf ears.

HOW BRANSON BUILD TRUST?

Branson has built a level of trust with his top managers by setting the direction and then stepping back to let them navigate. “ I come up with the original idea, spend the first three months immersed in the business so I know the ins and outs and then give Chief Executives a stake in the company and ask them to run it as if it’s their own,” explain Branson.