August 23, 2016 ▸ People

Episode 120: Sir Richard Branson–The Virgin Voyage

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On this episode of Sofa King Podcast, we talk about the life, corporate genius, and philanthropy of Sir Richard Branson. Founder and CEO of the Virgin Group, Branson was a high school drop out and dyslexic who felt school wasn’t a good match for him. At sixteen, he founded the magazine Student, which had an immediate circulation of 50,000 readers and made him over $8,000 in ad revenue (and in 1966 dollars, that was quite a bit). From there, he started a mail order record selling business, a record store, and based on those successes started his own recording studio.

At each business venture, he considered himself to be a virgin, and the name stuck. Within a few years, Virgin Records had discovered bands like The Sex Pistols and Culture Club and signed mega acts like The Rolling Stones and Genesis. And this is where Branson begins dipping his toe in every business he can imagine.

Railroad, airplanes, mobile phones, banking, publishing, healthcare, gyms, comic books, cola, and vodka and endless other areas were all branded as Virgin as Branson tried his hand at everything. More recently, he has started a battle against global warming, started a company dedicated to alternative fuel sources, and famously started Virgin Galactic in the Mohave Spaceport. His mission is make space tourism affordable.

But Branson is not without some controversy. He claims to treat all of his employees as good as he can to help make them loyal, but Brent questions this about people who work at his home. Also, he did get in legal trouble early on for selling records illegally and ignoring international tariffs and taxes. But, at the end of the day, he seems like a person dedicated to improving his corporations and life on earth.

What made Branson dedicate his time to stopping global warming? Who are “The Elders,” and how do they stop wars from spreading? How many world adventurous records does Branson hold? Why does he want to start a vegan airline? Listen, laugh, learn.