Richard Branson Net Worth

How much is Richard Branson’s net worth?

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net worth:	$4 billion
age:	74
Birth:	July 18, 1950
gender:	Male
Height:	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
country of origin:	United Kingdom
Source of funds:	Founder of Virgin
Last Updated:	August 17, 2024

Introduction

Richard Branson’s net worth is estimated at $4 billion.

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Richard Branson is an English businessman and founder of the Virgin Group, which now controls over 400 companies.

Branson started with a humble record store and built Virgin into a powerful company, making him one of the richest men in Britain, and one of the richest people in the world.

Richard Branson – Key Facts

Branson launched his first business venture – “The Student” magazine – in 1966.
Alongside his magazine, he also founded a mail-order record company.
Branson started his first major company in 1970 – Virgin Records.
Virgin Group was established in 1970.
In 1992, Branson sold his record company to EMI.
In 1999, half of Virgin Atlantic was sold to Singapore Airlines for $960 million.
Virgin Galactic was launched in 2004.
Virgin Media was acquired by Liberty Group in 2013.
Richard Branson is one of the richest people in Britain.

Early Life

Branson was born on July 18, 1950, in Blackheath, London, England. He had two younger sisters. His mother, Eve Branson, was a ballet dancer and later became an air hostess; his father, Edward James Branson, was a barrister.

He attended Scaitcliffe School, a prep school in Surrey, and Cliff View House School in Sussex. By the age of 16, he was a student at Stowe School, an independent school in Buckinghamshire.

Richard Branson had difficulty concentrating and performing well as a student due to dyslexia, so he decided to drop out of school at the age of 16 to pursue his interest in entrepreneurship – a decision he had the full support of his parents, who always believed in their son’s ambition.

Livelihood

Richard Branson's Career

In 1966, Richard Branson decided to leave school and start “The Student” magazine. This magazine became very popular and Branson also interviewed many celebrities for it.

At the same time, he started a small mail-order record business. He began advertising popular records in the magazine and quickly found his niche. His magazine boosted sales of the records he offered at low prices, making both of these ventures successful.

This was the time when they began trading under the name Virgin and the magazine was the first form of advertising for Virgin.

Branson opened his first record store in Oxford, London, and the success of the record store led to the launch of the Virgin record label shortly after. This was a huge step for the young entrepreneur.

Branson bought a country estate where he built his own recording studio, The Manor Studio. He began leasing it out to musicians, including one of his early artists, Mike Oldfield, whose debut album Tubular Bells (1973) was Virgin Records’ first major success.

Branson was never afraid to make more daring decisions in terms of signing an artist, and that is how the Sex Pistols began recording under his label. Some of the most interesting and successful artists who were part of the Virgin label were The Rolling Stones, Steve Winwood, Culture Club, XTC and Peter Gabriel.

But Brannan’s label wasn’t just a place for highly acclaimed, popular artists. Virgin Records was praised for bringing avant-garde musicians such as Faust and Can to fame.

All of this meant that Branson’s net worth was estimated at £5 million in 1979. Just a year later, Virgin Records went international and became one of the most influential record labels in the world.

Following the success of Virgin Records, Branson began expanding into different industries. His most notable and successful endeavor was Virgin Atlantic Airways, founded in 1984.

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A year later, Branson founded Virgin Holidays. In 1992, due to his airline’s financial problems, he sold his record label to EMI for £500 million, a significant personal loss for him.

In 1996 he founded V2 Records with the aim of once again taking over the music world. Around the same time, the Virgin Group acquired the European airline Euro Belgian Airlines, renaming it Virgin Express.

In 1997, Branson entered the railway business and started Virgin Trains. The Virgin Rail Group operated the InterCity CrossCountry and InterCity West Coast franchises for the next 15 years.

2004 was another influential year for Branson’s career. That year Branson announced a deal that would allow his new space tourism company Virgin Galactic to operate tourist suborbital outer space flights using the technology behind SpaceShipOne. Tickets are planned to be priced at US$200,000.

Virgin Fuels is another company formed under the Virgin Group, whose mission is to explore alternative fuels.

Branson’s Virgin Healthcare arm announced plans in 2008 to open a chain of healthcare clinics that would provide a combination of conventional and unconventional medical services.

Two years earlier, in 2006, the Virgin Group sold Virgin Mobile to NTL:Telewest for £900 million. The new company exists under the name Virgin Media.

In 2006, Richard Branson, along with author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra, founded Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation.

On February 9, 2007, Branson announced the creation of the Virgin Earth Challenge, a technology prize for those who design solutions to eliminate greenhouse gases from the Earth’s atmosphere.

Over the years, the Virgin brand has grown and expanded into new ventures, including Virgin airlines such as Virgin America Airlines and Virgin Australia Airlines, as well as Virgin Voyages, British bank Virgin Money, Virgin Hotels, Virgin Racing, Virgin Casino and Virgin Unite.

The most successful and recognizable Virgin ventures are the airlines Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, and the companies Virgin Galactic and Virgin Mobile.

Branson was knighted for his contributions to the business world. Since 2000, it has been perfectly acceptable to address him as Sir Richard Branson.

As of 2024, Richard Branson’s net worth is estimated at $4 billion.

personal life

Branson’s first marriage was to Kristen Tomassi in 1972. The relationship didn’t last long and the couple divorced in 1979. He met his second wife Joan Templeman in 1976 and married her on Necker Island in 1989.

Richard Branson has two children – daughter Holly, born in 1981, and son Sam, born in 1985.

Apart from his many business ventures, he is also known for his achievements in the sports world. Richard Branson is an experienced kitesurfer who has set world records in the sport. Along with Per Lindstrand, he was one of the first people to cross the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon.

How does Richard Branson spend his money?

Apart from his business empire, most of Branson’s investments and spending revolve around real estate. Some of his most significant properties are private islands – Necker Island, Makepeace Island, Great Britain Island and Moskito Island in the British Virgin Islands.

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Branson purchased Necker Island in 1979 for just $270,000, when the island was estimated to be worth about $7.5 million. He did so to create a retreat for himself and his label’s artists. He was lucky, as the previous owner needed quick cash and agreed to a price much lower than the island’s actual value.

Branson built his Necker Island home there – a luxurious villa for 28 guests. It is estimated that the property is worth around $200+ million today. Branson’s Necker Island home also has an interesting history, having been damaged by two tropical storms – Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Irma in 2017.

When Branson is not using his villa, he rents it out for $65,000 a day.

Other real estate owned by the entrepreneur includes a lodge in Verbier in the Swiss Alps, and a property in Mallorca, Spain, which he plans to transform into one of Europe’s best eco-resorts.

Career highlights

Here are some of the best highlights of Richard Branson’s career:

Left school and founded ‘Student’ magazine (1966)
The Raising of the Virgin (1970)
The Virgin record label is created (1973)
Virgin Books (1979)
Virgin Games (1983)
Virgin Atlantic Airways (1984)
Virgin Mobile (1999)
Knighted by Prince Charles of Wales (1999)