WEBVTT - Richard Branson 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:05.720 In nineteen seventy two, a young entrepreneur named Richard Branson 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.400 turned his mail order record business into a brick and 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.280 mortar store, which he named Virgin Records. Today, the company, 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.080 which is now called Virgin Group, is much more than 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:19.400 a record store, comprising more than forty companies that include airlines, 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:24.520 financial services, communications, and even space travel, and Branson himself 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.720 has stakes in more than four hundred companies ranging from travel, media, healthcare, 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.400 and finance. Branson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth the Second 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.559 in two thousand and continues to be a prominent global 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.159 figure for his philanthropy and his adventure and marketing stunts. 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:41.919 Branson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in two thousand and 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.120 continues to be a prominent global figure for his philanthropy 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:47.960 and his adventure and marketing stunts, such as crossing the 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.200 Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon and kite surfing 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:55.160 across the English Channel. Branson recently sat down with Carlisle 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.000 Group co founder David Rubinstein. They spoke on David Rubinstein's 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:04.480 Bloomberg television program Peer to Peer Conversations. You've written two books, 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.440 one is Losing Your Virginity and one is finding your virginity. 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:12.000 And in those books you describe this incredible path, how 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.360 you've gone from very modest meanings to this great wealth. 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:19.679 When you started life, you were not a great um 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.399 scholar as a young boy because you had a dysluxia. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:25.440 When did you realize you had dyslexia? And was it 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:33.280 a problem for you early on? Ah? In conventional schooling terms, 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:35.360 it was a big problem. I mean I would sit 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:37.640 at the back of the class, look at the look 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.640 at the blackboard, and it was just a jumble and 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:46.240 uh and uh and you know the the you know, 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:50.160 I was thought of as a bit lazy, a bit thick, 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:52.559 I mean, you know, or a mixture of the two. 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:58.840 And if I was interested in something, and I generally 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:04.280 excelled uh and And what I was interested in was 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:07.760 what was going on in the world. So the Vietnamese 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.320 War was going on. There was a general sort of 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:15.359 sixties sort of uprising of students taking place, and um, 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.200 so I decided to start a magazine to campaign against 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.200 the things that I thought were wrong in the world, 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.119 in particular the Vietnamese. This was when you're fifteen years old, 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.000 so you dropped out of school at more or less 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.520 fifteen or so, you start the magazine and as part 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.080 of the magazine you get interviews with from prominent people, 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.639 one of whom was Mick Jagger. Or is it hard 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:35.560 to get an interview with Mick Jagger when you're fifteen 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.560 years old? Do you know? I think in some ways 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:43.520 if you're fifteen you have a better chance of getting 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.919 interviews with people then if you're thirty or forty or fifty. 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:51.440 And you know, I would, I would just turn up 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:56.519 at people's houses and uh and you know doors stop them. 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.880 And because I was young and and and enthusiastic, they 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.200 generally took pity on me. Ultimately, you decided to start 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:07.240 a record company. Um, where did you get that idea from? 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.120 And where did the name virgin come from? Why not branch? 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.480 And we were sitting, you know, fifty sixty years old. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.040 We were sitting in the basement with a bunch of 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:21.799 girls and we were throwing out ideas and we got 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.400 down to be the slip disc records because of the 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:29.120 black vinyls that always had scratches and slipped or virgin. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.320 And one of the girls laughed and said, well, we're 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.880 all virgins, and your virgin at business. Why don't you 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:38.120 call it virgin and she get a finer's feed for 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.000 that idea. I can't remember. If she's out of there, 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.680 she can be delighted to give a one. But you know, 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:50.880 but I mean, it's very fortunate because we've gone into 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.040 so many different sectors, so many different businesses. We've been 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:59.080 a virgin in all of these different sectors and slip 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:02.760 disc air lines would not have. So you start a 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:07.400 record company and initially it's a record as a retailer, right, yeah, 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.560 we started actually initially it was a male order selling 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.440 records much cheaper than anybody else had done. And then 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.800 so we're the first people to sell records at a discount. 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:19.240 And then there was a mail order strike for six 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.360 weeks and so we went looking for a very very 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:26.479 cheap music store in Oxford Street. Then you start building 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.719 the virgin megastores, gigantic stores, and you had a lot 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.760 of stores in UK and other places. How many did 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:36.400 you have? At one point we had about three hundred 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.279 megastores around the world, and all of all the main 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:46.320 places like Times Square, Chanzas, Oxford Street. At the heyday 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.719 of when you know, of when music was really all 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:54.359 that young, people did before games, before mobile phones, before 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:56.880 the other things, the younger people. The success was the virgin, 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.320 name your self, promotion of it, or your shell things 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.160 cheaper than other people. What was the virgin was synonymous 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:10.400 with music credibility, so Frank Zapper or the Rolling Stones, 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.679 I mean, you know, so we had a very credible brand. 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:16.320 And you know, one day there was a young artist 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.039 came to me with fantastic tape and I took it 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:22.840 to a number of record companies and none of them 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.560 would put it out. So I thought, screw that, will 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.840 start our own record company. And and uh and uh, 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:31.920 and we we put it out on our own record 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.640 company and and it was called Jubila Bells by Mike Oldfield, 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.159 and it became a great success. So you have a 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.400 record retail and company and a record production company in 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.919 both called Virgin. Somebody drove drew a V for you 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.200 to be your logo. We decided we needed a more 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.280 a slightly hipper looking label, and somebody just came came 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.320 up with this very simple signature. But then you decide, well, 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:56.880 I need to start an airline. Um, where did the 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:01.320 idea come from? It came from I was trying to 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.359 get from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands. I was 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:07.280 twenty eight years old, and I had a lovely lady 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.000 waiting for me. And you went to the Virgin Islands 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:16.440 because you liked the name Virginition exactly and actually that's true. 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:21.240 And anyway, American Airlines bumped bumped us, and I want 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:22.920 I had been away from this lady for three weeks. 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.760 So I went to the back of the airport hard 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:28.680 a plane. I hope my credit card wouldn't bounce, and 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:32.440 I got a black board I wrote Virgin Airlines one 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:34.920 ways to b B. I went to all the other 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.200 people who were bumped, and I filled up my first 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.280 plane and and when we landed in the b B, 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:44.640 I the passenger next to me said, sharpen up the 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.480 service a bit, and you could be in the airline business. 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.560 And and I thought, okay. So the next day I 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:53.120 rang up Boeing and said, do you have any secondhand 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.000 seven four sevens for sale? We started with one second 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.440 hand seven four seven against British Airways three hundred planes 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.920 and pan M and t w Aree planes. British Airways 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.240 launched a dirty tricks campaign against US, which and they 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:10.320 did everything they could to drive us out of business, 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:14.480 and we took them to court. We won the biggest 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:19.400 damages in British history. It was Christmas time. We gave it. 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:24.040 We distributed to all our staff equally and so we 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:26.520 I think that every year they hope the British Airways 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.600 will launch a dirty tricks campaign against us. People like 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.960 the fact that you were against the establishment airline. And well, 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:36.120 one time I read that new uh that the what's 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:38.200 now called the Eye? I guess it's the big ferris 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.880 wheel in London. The British air was supporting it, and 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.000 they couldn't get it assemble and they couldn't actually get 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:48.040 the thing to work. And you rented a sort of blimp. 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.920 We actually had a little blimp company just outside London, 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:55.360 and we scrambled the blimp and we flew over the 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.200 over the Eye that was still lying flat on the ground, 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:01.000 and they're all the world's pressed there to watch this 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.240 I being erected and always said was you know, be 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.960 a can't get it up on the side of the airship. 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.640 So how did the newspapers were able? We we got 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.520 we got we got the headlines they didn't. So it 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.360 turned out pretty well and then you began building other 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.720 companies and you always think that the name Virgin and 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:23.600 your creativity could get them off the ground. Well, uh, again, 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.679 the only reason we would go into a new sector 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.240 is if we felt it was being badly run by 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.600 other people. So the reason we went into trains was 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:38.800 the government were running trains. British Rail was dilapidated trains, 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:43.440 you know, a miserable service, and we just felt, you know, 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:46.000 we could we could go in, We could get fantastic 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.920 rail stock, we could motivate the staff, and we could 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.640 make a big difference. And so we took over you know, 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.520 the busiest line in Britain, the West Coast main Line, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.280 and we've gone from eight million passengers to nearly forty 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.840 million messengers and and you know, I think transformed the 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:08.199 experience for people. And you know, in every in every 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:11.080 new sector that we've gone into, we we we've we've 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.600 we've seen you know, a gaping gap in the market 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:16.840 where the big guys have not been doing it very 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.679 well and where we can come in and shake up 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:21.760 an industry. How many companies have you started with the 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.840 name Virgin? Is it a few hundred? By now it's 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.600 it's an access of three hundred three hundred and everyone. 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.320 Presumably it hasn't worked. A couple just couldn't have worked. 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.000 So when you start them and they don't work, you 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.360 just end them after a year or so or yeah, 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:38.280 I mean, but none of them have ever been filed 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.079 for bankruptcy. We've been fortunate. We've never had a bankrupt company. 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:44.040 And if something doesn't work out, well, you know, we'll 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.400 we'll make sure that we settle all the debts and 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.480 then move on to the next company. Is there something 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:51.800 in your life you haven't achieved that you'd like to achieve. 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:57.360 We've spent fourteen years working on on our space program 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:01.680 and it's been tough, and and and and spaces space 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:07.439 is tough. It is rocket starce and uh. And you know, 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.720 I think we were on the verge of finally fulfilling 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.920 fulfilling that dream. And you know, before the end of 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.200 the year, I hope, I hope to be you know, 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.360 sitting in a Virgin galactic spaceship going to space. You've 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:24.880 got about two hundred thousand people were maybe more now 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:29.320 that signed up. Um, are they still they're ready to go? Well, 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:32.720 I mean actually signed up and and paid up. It's 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.840 about eight hundred's a clash to pay up it's two 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.520 hundred and fifty dollars, you know, I mean there are 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:42.800 there's about fifty people watching this program would love to 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:46.000 go to space, and there's about fifty who think that, 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:47.720 you know, these people are mad? What on earth did 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.720 they want to go to space? Four? But the market 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.800 of people who want to go to space is gigantic, 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:57.800 and and we hope to be able to, you know, 0:10:57.840 --> 0:10:59.920 to satisfy quite a few of those people. Think you 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:01.640 can make a profit on this in the end, or 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:05.040 is it really just a lot of doing this? So 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:08.080 I never go into a venture with the idea of 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.680 making a profit. You know, if you can create the 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:14.520 best in its field, generally speaking, you'll find that you'll 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:17.280 pay the bills and you'll make a profit. So the 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.320 way as I understand it works, it's not like a 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.480 rocket goes off. You have an airplane and attached to 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:25.400 it as another airplane, and the one that separates goes 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.920 in the outer space, is that right? The one that 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:32.400 drops will then fire its rocket and you'll go about 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:36.280 not to ten seconds. You'll be traveling at three thousand 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.959 miles and our int into space, and then how long 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:42.880 would you be in space under the ride that you're 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:47.760 so the whole experience would be something like three hours. 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.240 So will you be on the first flight. I'll be 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.960 on the first official flight. We've got. We've got very 0:11:54.000 --> 0:12:00.600 brave um astronauts who effectually test pilots who are uh, 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.199 you know, testing the craft time and time again and 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:07.480 and ironing out anything that can go wrong before myself 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.160 and members of the public going. So I'm sure it'll 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.600 be shape. But one time, when you were doing hot 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:16.040 air ballooning, you weren't sure whether you would survive with 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:21.480 the ballooning adventures. I was doing something that that nobody 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:26.800 had done before. I was trying to fly across the 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.319 Atlantic or the Pacific, or go around the world in 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:33.920 a in a balloon. I was flying at forty feet 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:36.880 in the jet stream, you know, with one with one 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:43.080 other person pay INSTRUANDU and uh and you know, the 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:47.120 technology was completely unproven. There were we were the test pilots. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:49.120 That was more dangerous. Things could go wrong, and they 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:50.840 did go right. And you said a number of Guinness 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.440 World Records for that. But in hindsight, do you have 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:57.400 any regrets about taking those risks on the hot air balloon. 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:04.760 It's interesting. You know, my son and daughter now setting 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:08.480 themselves big adventures every year, dragging their dad along on 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:10.000 some of them, you know. And I think as a 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:13.120 family we feel, you know, live life, live life to 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:17.240 it's full and and you know you can, you can, 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.319 you know you can, you can. You can die in 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.280 a road accident, you can dine just a normal bike ride. 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:30.079 And quite often when you're actually completely focused on an adventure, 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:33.800 the it's less likely in some way that you're going 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:37.120 to die in an adventure because you're you're you're ready 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.160 and sharp and know how to deal with it. So 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:42.679 you're very well recognized for all the things you've done 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.840 around the world. Also, your hair and your gotee are 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:50.080 probably well recognized. So did this always have you had 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.679 a gotee most of your adult wife and your hair 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.680 is always this length. I've I've been a hippie ever 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:04.600 since i was uh fifty years old and uh and 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.000 and I've had a beard pretty well ever since I 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:11.520 was fifteen sixteen years old. So I shaved it off 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.600 once when we launched a company called Virgin Brides, and 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.880 I put my foot a bride a bridal dress on 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:23.080 and and and anyway gave gave people a good laugh, 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.520 and we found there weren't any virgin bride, so that 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:30.760 business didn't succeed for very long. But then, or maybe 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.520 it was the fact that I didn't look the most 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.640 secy bride. So now you were a sir, you're knighted. 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.440 Um did you ever expect to be a member of 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.280 royalty and effect or knighted? We once put out a 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.640 record called God Saved the Queen by the Sex Pistols 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:51.640 on the Silver Jubilee, and and and then I found 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:55.720 myself twenty five years later being knighted. And I was 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:58.560 slightly nervous if she, if she had remembered the words 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:00.760 on the record that that, you know, it would have 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.000 been a slice, a slice of the head rather than 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.800 a top on the shoulder. But she, she, she was, 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.160 she she forgave us. Anyway. This wasn't done in the 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.880 Tower of London, I guess. So fortunately it wasn't done 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:13.680 in the Tower of London. For those that may not 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.800 know about Neckar Island, so I understand it. In the 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:20.200 late nineties seventies there was an opportunity to buy an 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.240 island in the British Virgin islands. Yeah, I mean, I 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:28.280 they wanted five billion dollars for this beautiful island. I 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.240 thought I could scrape together about a hundred thousands. I 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:35.560 offered a hundred thousand um. Nobody else, fortunately came to 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:37.480 see the island. So yeah, later they said, if I 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.560 make it a hundred and twenty thousand, we'd have an island. 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:44.080 And I went. I went everywhere to borrow, borrow, and 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:47.480 beg to get that hundred and twenty thousand, and and 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:51.360 we ended up with the most beautiful island in the world. 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:53.920 So you've built a house there, and there's also a resort. 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:58.360 I mean, Necker has become it is our home. It's 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.440 you know, a magical place, and you know, we have 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:07.800 fantastic get together as the people, and sometimes you know 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:11.320 conferences there where we where we try to you know, 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.920 sort of sort out the problems of the world, or 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.040 just people come on holiday into you know, you had 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.840 booked the whole island. Barack Obama Michelle Obama managed to 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:23.240 go to neckar Alon. He was good enough to invite 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:26.520 me to the overall office for lunch about three months 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.080 before he stepped down, and we had a lovely lunch. 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:33.720 We're basically agree with each other on most most aspects 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.000 of life. So I guess he was a nice house cash. 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:41.520 Both of them and are abstutely delightful and uh, you know, 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:43.880 and I think, you know, we we had a fun 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.480 competition and anyway, he beat me. He learned to kite 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:52.520 and before I could foil board, and uh, and you 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:56.280 know they yeah, I mean, it was a great privilege 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:57.880 to spend time with them. And you've met a lot 0:16:57.920 --> 0:16:59.920 of great leaders. You've brought a lot of them together 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.520 something called the Elders, which are people like Nelson Mandel 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:05.720 and others who were great leaders in their time. You 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.639 were very close to Nelson Mandela, very close. I was 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.960 very lucky that for for ten years we we knew 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.600 each other very well. And you know, so we set 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:18.200 up the Elders, which twelve incredible men and women who 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.639 go into conflicts and try to resolve conflicts. Um. And 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:23.720 if you have, you know, conflicts, I think maybe the 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.520 most important thing, because if you have a conflict, everything 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.840 else breaks down. What is it that makes great leadership 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:33.360 in your view? I think being being a really good 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.120 listener is one of the key things. And I think 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.600 when I when I sit around, you know, listening to 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.840 the elders talk and elders meetings. UM. You know you 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.720 you realize that you know why they've become elders is 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:50.800 because you know they've spent their lifetime listening and absorbing 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:56.439 and uh. And then you know only only speaking you know, 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:02.080 you know, choosing their words carefully. I think, uh, loving people, 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:05.119 I mean I think you know, a genuine love of 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:09.040 a genuine love of everybody you know. Um. Uh and 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:11.280 you know, looking for the best in people. I mean 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:15.439 even you know, even if uh there there being a pain. Um, 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.240 you know, you can normally find the best in in 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:21.359 pretty well anybody. So when you're a business and leader, 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.480 If you're a business leader, somebody's watching this and wants 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.040 to be Richard Branson for sure, Richard Branson. What is 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:32.040 the key? Um, Surrounding yourself with great people, um, Learning 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:39.000 to delegate early on, not trying to do everything yourself. Uh. 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.000 You know, making sure you've got the kind of people 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:44.840 that are praising the team around them, not criticizing the people. Um. 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:51.639 Uh and uh and you know, having people who are 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.399 willing to um you know, to to really innovate, be 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:57.840 bold and create something which everybody who works with the 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:00.320 company can be really proud of now. One of the 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:02.719 great things about your life, as you've had a terrific 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:04.840 family life. You've been married for more than forty years. 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:07.520 Where did you meet your wife? I met her in 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.920 a recording studio called The Manner In which is the 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.560 studio we had in the UK. Was it love at 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:16.240 first sight? Er? It was from my point, It was 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:18.280 just that she was making a cup of tea. I 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:21.600 looked across the room and I was absolutely smitten. And 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:25.440 then she was with with somebody else. I had to. 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:29.280 I had to. I'm afraid, Chase said. And my nick 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:33.000 nickname became tag Along because a friend who worked at 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:35.840 Virgin knew her and I would ask her if I 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.280 could tag along when when she was getting out to dinner. 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:41.240 What worked out? And you have two children who you're 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:44.240 very close to. I always think it's important if somebody 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.080 successful can can do this while their parents are alive. 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.240 And your father died a few years ago, but he 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.879 lived to be a Uh, your mother is still alive. 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:57.640 What was it like having your parents see your success 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.359 and look at it was? It was wonderful to be 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:05.040 able to share it with them, and my mom. You 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.400 know that my first two hundred dollars that I've got 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:09.800 to start my business. My mom found a necklace and 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.080 went to the police station, handed it in and nobody 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:15.119 claimed it, and she got to managed to set it 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.159 for two hundred dollars, and that was, you know, that 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.040 was the critical money that help help me start and 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.000 which we've managed to sort of share. You know, this 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:26.600 wonder wonderful life that I'd be lucky enough to lead 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.400 with with them and and with my mother, we still 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:32.960 do in the philanthropic world. What would you say is 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:36.920 the thing you're most focused on in the philanthropic humanitarian area, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.160 were there's a little bit of a sort of serial 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:42.840 philanthropists in the same way that you know, we just 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:46.560 we were a serial entrepreneur, and and that I find 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.720 it difficult saying no to projects that I feel are important. 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:52.439 Did you ever think when you were growing up that 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:55.640 you'd be wealthy enough to give away staggering some some money. 0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:01.720 I said that certainly never dreamed that that that you know, 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:05.000 that the incredible dream of my life would would it 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.639 would have actually happened, and that uh, and that that 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:12.280 would one day be in a position to to make 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:14.720 you know, hopefully make a difference. So many times people 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:18.080 who become financially successful and otherwise we're well known, they 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.520 seem to be unhappy for some reason. But you seem 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:23.680 to be a very happy person, very content. Is that 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:28.320 a fair assessment? Um, I just think it would be. 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:30.680 I'd be a very sad person if I wasn't a 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:34.520 very happy person. I mean, I've been blessed to have 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:39.720 a absolutely lovely, lovely lady. Were complete opposites, but you 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:42.680 know we get on great. Um, you know, blessed to 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:47.080 have been together most of our lives, blessed to have 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:51.879 wonderful children, wonderful grandchildren and h And every day I'm learning, 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:55.439 you know, I mean I didn't I see life as 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:59.119 the one long university education I never had. I'm learning 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:02.359 something new from you know, getting out there, listening to people, 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:08.560 and and you know, I've scribbled everything down and and 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:12.199 I feel like I am a perpetual student. Let me 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:14.480 ask you a question I've asked Bill Gates. Do you 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:16.399 think you could have been more successful in life if 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:21.480 you had a university degree? Obviously it couldn't be more successful. 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:26.400 And no, I I mean the age forty, I turned 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:28.280 to my wife and said, I think I might give 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:31.960 everything up and go to university. And she turned to 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:34.560 me and said, you just want to go and chat 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:36.600 up those young ladies at the university. You go straight 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:39.160 back to work. And it was good advice.