Richard Branson

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Sir Richard Branson is an English business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group, which controls more than 400 companies. He started his first business venture—the Student magazine—at the age of sixteen. This was followed by a mail-order record business in 1970 and a chain of record stores (Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores) in 1972.

Branson’s Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for “services to entrepreneurship”. He has become a prominent figure for his work in retail, music and transport (with interests in land, air, sea and space travel), his taste for adventure, and his humanitarian work. In 2002, he was named in the BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. In January 2016, Forbes listed Branson’s estimated net worth at $5.2 billion.