50 Fun Facts About Richard Branson

What did Richard Branson drive into New York's Times Square in 1998 to launch Virgin Cola in America?

A tank carried him into Times Square, crushing rival cola cans for the cameras. The drink never caught its giant rivals and was eventually discontinued.

What did a clean-shaven Richard Branson wear in 1996 to launch his bridal retailer Virgin Brides?

A wedding dress was his launch-day outfit, with the famous beard removed for the photographers. The chain never took off, and the last Virgin Brides shop closed in 2007.

After a failed Formula One bet, Richard Branson shaved his legs to work for AirAsia in which job?

A flight attendant in a red skirt and lipstick, he served a 2013 trip to Malaysia and tipped a tray of drinks over AirAsia's boss, Tony Fernandes, who had won the wager.

Which fellow billionaire did Richard Branson beat to the edge of space by nine days in July 2021?

Jeff Bezos had announced his trip first, then watched Branson go up on 11 July before his own Blue Origin rocket followed on 20 July. He sent good wishes ahead of his rival's launch.

Which uninhabited Caribbean island did Richard Branson buy for $180,000 and turn into his home?

Necker Island became his after an opening bid of $100,000 was turned down. The sale carried a condition: build a resort within four years or hand the land back.

Richard Branson's headmaster predicted he would either become a millionaire or end up where?

In prison or a millionaire was Robert Drayson's forecast on the boy's last day at school. The pupil left at sixteen and overshot the kinder option, becoming a billionaire.

In which James Bond film does Richard Branson appear as a passenger frisked at airport security?

Casino Royale gave him the cameo in its Miami airport scenes, with Virgin Atlantic planes appearing soon after. A competing airline cut him out of the version it showed on board.

In which American sitcom did Richard Branson play a London street vendor who sells a Union Jack hat?

Friends cast him as the vendor who sells Joey a huge flag-covered hat during the gang's trip to London. Sarah, Duchess of York and Hugh Laurie made cameos in the same episode.

Richard Branson named Virgin Galactic's first spaceplane after a starship from which sci-fi series?

Star Trek's USS Enterprise lent its name to VSS Enterprise. Branson, a fan of the series, reportedly offered William Shatner a seat on Virgin Galactic's first launch.

The curvy 1990s Virgin Cola bottle launched by Richard Branson was shaped to resemble which celebrity?

Pamela Anderson, then at the height of her Baywatch fame in Britain, was the model for the curves, and from 1996 the 500ml bottle was marketed as 'The Pammy'.

Which condition does Richard Branson say made school a struggle before he quit at sixteen?

Dyslexia left him with poor exam results, and he has also talked openly about having ADHD. Neither stopped him launching a national magazine while still a teenager.

What was the name of the magazine Richard Branson started at sixteen, his first real business?

Student first appeared in January 1968 and carried his interviews with figures such as Mick Jagger. Its pages later advertised the cut-price records that became his next venture.

Before starting his magazine, the schoolboy Richard Branson failed to make money breeding which pet birds?

Budgerigars were one of two flops before he turned to publishing; the other was a plan to grow and sell Christmas trees.

Richard Branson ran his magazine and first mail-order record business from which part of a London church?

The crypt of St John's Church, off Bayswater Road, was his office. Adverts in the magazine drove the record sales, which undercut high-street chains such as WHSmith.

Which 1973 album, the first release on Richard Branson's Virgin Records, supplied the theme of The Exorcist?

Tubular Bells sold slowly until the horror film borrowed its opening piano motif in December 1973. It was recorded at The Manor, the Oxfordshire country-house studio Branson had set up.

Which punk band did Richard Branson's Virgin Records sign in 1977 after two other labels had dropped them?

Sex Pistols joined Virgin that May, and Branson sat up all night choosing the track list for their only studio album, over the objections of the band and their manager.

To which music company did a tearful Richard Branson sell Virgin Records in 1992 to keep his airline afloat?

EMI's money kept Virgin Atlantic flying. Branson said he wept when the deal was done, because records were where his empire had begun.

A poster for which food gave Richard Branson's Virgin the title Now That's What I Call Music! in 1983?

Danish bacon was advertised by a 1930s poster of a pig listening to a singing chicken. Branson found it in an antiques shop and gave it to his label boss, Simon Draper.

Which rival airline paid Richard Branson £500,000 in damages after its 'dirty tricks' campaign?

British Airways settled the case and also faced legal fees of up to £3 million. Branson shared his payout among Virgin staff, who knew it as the 'BA bonus'.

Richard Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace in 2000 for his services to what?

Entrepreneurship was the citation in the New Year Honours, and the future King Charles III performed the ceremony that March.

Which physicist named VSS Unity, the spaceplane that carried Richard Branson to space in 2021?

Stephen Hawking picked the name, and his own eye was the model for the logo painted on the craft's side.

From which US state's Spaceport America did Richard Branson take off for the edge of space in July 2021?

New Mexico put about $200 million of public money into the spaceport, built with Virgin Galactic as its anchor tenant. Branson's whole trip, runway to runway, took roughly an hour.

After which relative did Richard Branson name VMS Eve, the aircraft that carried his spaceplane aloft?

His mother, Eve Branson, a former ballet dancer, gave her name to the craft. She died in January 2021, six months before her son's trip to the edge of space.

In which country did Richard Branson's record balloon flight across the Pacific from Japan land?

Canada was the landing place in January 1991: Branson and the Swedish balloonist Per Lindstrand came down far north of their target, on a frozen lake in the Northwest Territories.

In 2004 Richard Branson set a record for crossing the English Channel in what kind of vehicle?

An amphibious car, the Gibbs Aquada, took him from Dover to Calais in 1 hour 40 minutes. Three years later the Top Gear presenters built their own and failed to beat his time.

In which water sport did Richard Branson become the oldest person to cross the English Channel?

Kitesurfing brought him a second record in 2014, when he rode a single board with three women aboard, the most people then carried on one.

Which adventurer flew the GlobalFlyer, sponsored by Richard Branson's airline, solo around the world in 2005?

Steve Fossett made the first solo nonstop flight around the globe without refuelling, in about 67 hours. He and Branson had earlier tried to circle the world together by balloon.

What happened to Richard Branson's powerboat on his first attempt at the transatlantic speed record?

It capsized and sank after striking debris close to the finish line off the Isles of Scilly, and a helicopter flew the rescued crew ashore. A year later his second craft, Virgin Atlantic Challenger II, beat the record by two hours.

Which statesman, born on Richard Branson's birthday, launched The Elders from an idea by Branson and Peter Gabriel?

Nelson Mandela announced the group of veteran leaders in Johannesburg on 18 July 2007, the day he turned 89 and Branson turned 57.

Which former US vice president persuaded Richard Branson over breakfast to take global warming seriously?

Al Gore's breakfast visit turned a self-described sceptic around. In 2006 Branson pledged the profits of his airline and trains to research into cleaner fuels.

Margaret Thatcher briefly made Richard Branson a 'tsar' in the 1980s, charged with tackling what in Britain?

Litter was his brief, a short-lived post that gave him an early taste of public life. Polls later suggested he would have been a viable candidate for Mayor of London, though he never ran.

What did Richard Branson become in 2007 so that he could marry a couple aboard a Virgin America flight?

An ordained minister of the Universal Life Church Monastery, he conducted the mid-air ceremony as a marketing stunt for the airline's domestic routes.

Which offence did Richard Branson settle with customs in 1971 over export-only records sold in Britain?

Tax evasion: he had skipped purchase duty by pretending the records were going abroad. His parents remortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.

Richard Branson's Virgin Earth Challenge offered $25 million for a way to remove what from the air?

Greenhouse gases had to be removed at scale by a commercially viable design. The prize was announced in 2007 and eleven finalists were named, but it was never awarded.

Four generations of Richard Branson's family lived in which country from 1793, leaving a trace in his DNA?

India was home to the Bransons for four generations, mostly at Cuddalore in what is now Tamil Nadu. A test on the TV series Finding Your Roots found he has some South Asian ancestry.

Which English boarding school, housed in a former ducal mansion, did Richard Branson leave at sixteen?

Stowe taught him until he left to run his magazine. He came back decades later in a grander role, serving as president of the school's old boys' society from 2013 to 2017.

In the 1970s Richard Branson hosted Virgin business dinners in which unusual London home?

A houseboat on the canal was his base: Virgin's first album deal was discussed over dinner aboard, and he covered it with his collection of old hand-painted tin signs.

A Virgin musician hid a rude message, widely read as aimed at Richard Branson, on a 1990 album in what form?

Morse code, played on synthesised trumpets 48 minutes into the album Amarok, spells out a two-word dismissal and the initials RB. He built the hour-long piece to be awkward for the label to sell.

Richard Branson's only record as a producer was a novelty single built from the noises of which animals?

Sheep, recorded on his aunt's farm in Norfolk and set to a drum machine, gave the 1982 single its sound. Branson took the credit 'Jeff Mutton', and it reached number 42 in the UK chart.

Which British bank, nationalised after a 2007 run on its branches, did Richard Branson's Virgin Money buy?

Northern Rock went to Virgin Money for £747 million up front in a deal announced in November 2011. It had been the first British bank in 150 years to fail after a run by savers.

Which Formula One team, champions in their only season, carried Richard Branson's Virgin logos in 2009?

Brawn GP won both world titles with Jenson Button in that single season, then became the Mercedes team. Branson moved on to back a new outfit, renamed Virgin Racing, for 2010.

Which travel business did Richard Branson enter with Virgin Voyages and its first craft, Scarlet Lady?

Cruise ships were new ground for Virgin: Scarlet Lady's planned 2020 debut was delayed by the pandemic, and she first sailed with passengers from Portsmouth in August 2021.

Richard Branson's 2004 Fox reality show The Rebel Billionaire closely followed the format of which NBC hit?

The Apprentice was the model, with daredevil stunts added: sixteen contestants competed to take over as president of Virgin. The show lasted a single season.

Which best-selling wellness author co-founded Virgin Comics with Richard Branson in 2006?

Deepak Chopra joined the venture alongside his son Gotham, who became its chief creative officer. After a management buyout in 2008 the company was renamed Liquid Comics.

Which famous gay nightclub in London's Charing Cross did Richard Branson's Virgin buy in 1982?

Heaven was bought from its founder as Branson spotted the spending power of the 'pink pound'. By his own account, the £500,000 came from the brewery that supplied the club's drinks.

A cancelled flight out of which Caribbean destination led Richard Branson to charter a plane and sell the seats?

Puerto Rico was where he was stuck, so he hired an aircraft and charged the other stranded passengers a small fee to cover it: his first taste of the airline business.

What cheeky name did Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic give a leased jumbo jet in 1984?

Maiden Voyager was a leased Boeing 747 that had previously flown for Aerolíneas Argentinas. It carried the airline's first passengers from Gatwick to Newark on 22 June 1984.

Which title did Richard Branson give his 1998 autobiography, the first volume of his life story?

Losing My Virginity takes his story up to his early forties. The follow-up, Finding My Virginity, arrived in 2017.

In which country did Richard Branson launch the low-cost airline Virgin Blue in 2000, with just two aircraft?

Australia got Virgin Blue in August 2000, when it flew a pair of Boeing 737s, one of them leased from a sister airline in Europe. It was later renamed Virgin Australia.

Which 2017 hurricane wrecked Richard Branson's Caribbean home, six years after a lightning fire destroyed it?

Hurricane Irma struck as a category 5 storm on 6 September 2017 and destroyed most of the island's buildings. By the following April most of them had been rebuilt.