Richard Branson Net Worth ·

14 Jul 2024, 00:00

What is Richard Branson’s net worth?

Net Worth:	$4 Billion
Age:	74
Born:	July 18, 1950
Gender:	Male
Height:	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Country of Origin:	United Kingdom
Source of Wealth:	Founder of Virgin
Last Updated:	Sep 5, 2024

Table of Contents

Introduction

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

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

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

Richard Branson – Key Facts

Branson created his first business venture – “The Student” magazine, in 1966.
Alongside his magazine, he founded mail-order record company.
Branson launched his first big company – Virgin Records, in 1970.
Virgin Group was founded 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 bought by Liberty Group in 2013.
Richard Branson is one of the wealthiest men in the UK.

Early Life

Branson was born on the 18th of July, 1950, in Blackheath, London, England. He had two younger sisters. His mother, Eve Branson, was a ballet dancer and later 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. Until the age of 16, he was a student at Stowe School, an independent school in Buckinghamshire.

Richard Branson struggled to focus and do well as a student due to dyslexia, so he made the decision at the age of 16 to drop out to pursue his interest in entrepreneurship – with the full support of his parents, who always believed in the ambition of their son.

Career

In 1966, Richard Branson decided to drop out of school to start “The Student” magazine. The magazine became very popular, and Branson even interviewed several celebrities for it.

At the same time, he founded a small mail-order record business. He started advertising popular records within the magazine and quickly found his niche. His magazine was driving up sales of the records he offered at low prices, which made both of these ventures a success.

That was when he started trading under the name Virgin, and the magazine was the first form of advertisement for Virgin.

The first record store Branson opened was in Oxford, London, and shortly after the success of the record store, came the Virgin Record Label. This was a huge step for the young entrepreneur.

Branson bought a country estate, where he built his recording studio, The Manor Studio. He started to lease it to musicians, including one of his earliest acts, Mike Oldfield, whose first album Tubular Bells (1973), was the first big Virgin Records success.

Branson was never afraid to make more daring choices when it came to the artist he was signing, and that is how Sex Pistols began recording under his label. Some of the most interesting and successful artists that have been a part of the Virgin label were The Rolling Stones, Steve Winwood, Culture Club, XTC, and Peter Gabriel.

But Branon’s label was more than just a place for highly acclaimed, popular artists. Virgin Records was praised for giving a spotlight to more avant-garde musicians, such as Faust and Can.

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

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

A year later, Branson founded Virgin Holidays. In 1992, due to the financial problems of his airlines, he sold his record label to EMI for £500 million, which was a significant personal loss for him.

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

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

2004 was another impactful year for Branson’s career. That year Branson announced the deal that would allow his new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, to use the technology behind SpaceShipOne to conduct tourist suborbital outer space flights. The plans are for the tickets to cost US$ 200,000.

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

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

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

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

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

Over the years, the Virgin brand has been growing and expanding to new ventures, including Virgin airlines such as Virgin America Airline 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 enterprises are the airline Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, and companies – Virgin Galactic and Virgin Mobile.

For all of his contributions to the business world, Branson was knighted. 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 did not last, and in 1979 the couple got divorced. He met his second wife, Joan Templeman, in 1976 and married her in 1989 on Necker Island.

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

Apart from his many business ventures, he’s known for his achievements in the world of sports. Richard Branson is an experienced kitesurfer with world records in this sport. With Per Lindstrand, he was also one of the first men to cross the Pacific as well as the Atlantic in a hot air balloon.

How Does Richard Branson Spend His Money?

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

Branson purchased Necker Island in 1979 for only $270,000, even though the island was estimated to be worth around $7.5 million. He did that to create a retreat for himself and the artists from his label. He was lucky, as the previous owner needed fast cash and agreed to a much lower price than what the island was really worth.

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 has an interesting history as well, being damaged by two tropical hurricanes – Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Irma in 2017.

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

Other real estates owned by the entrepreneur are The Lodge in Verbier in the Swiss Alps, as well as an estate in Mallorca, Spain, which he plans to turn into the best eco-resort in Europe.

Career Highlights

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

Dropped out of school to found ‘Student’ magazine (1966)
Founded Virgin (1970)
Virgin record label created (1973)
Virgin Books (1979)
Virgin Games (1983)
Virgin Atlantic Airways (1984)
Virgin Mobile (1999)
Knighted by Prince Charles of Wales (1999)