early 1990s
Branson says he sold Virgin Records to raise a war chest to fight British Airways and its dirty tricks campaign.
“I needed a war chest, um, to combat British Airways”
Topic
Richard Branson
19 facts from 2 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2020
Richard Branson launched a $480 million SPAC called VG Acquisition Corp. in October 2020.
“$480 million VG Acquisition Corp.”
2021
Virgin Galactic's mothership was named after Branson's mother Eve, who died of Covid before she could join him on a space flight.
“you've named the mothership after Eve. And then, tragically, um, she passes away from Covid before she has the chance to embark on that space journey with you”
Undated
Branson says Virgin Atlantic was the first airline in the world to introduce seatback videos.
“we were the first airline to introduce seatback videos in the world.”
Undated
Richard Branson's mother, Eve, made table mats and pictures from cut-out book illustrations to sell to stores such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols.
“she was, um, making table mats and, you know, cutting out pretty pictures from books.”
Undated
Branson says his mother decided he would one day become prime minister of Britain.
“she decided that I was gonna be prime minister of, uh, Britain one day”
Undated
Branson left school at fifteen to create a magazine.
“it ended with me rebelling from actually staying at school and leaving school at fifteen”
Undated
Branson's student magazine grew into a student advisory centre offering advice on subjects such as venereal disease, contraception, abortion and mental health.
“we ended up setting up as as a student advisory centre, uh, where we would, um, uh, give people advice on venereal disease”
Undated
Branson says that at about age fifty he still did not know the difference between net and gross profit.
“I was in a board meeting, uh, when I was about fifty years old”
Undated
Branson spent one night in prison over unpaid tax on records exported to Europe, a tax he says applied at the time.
“I spent one night in prison. I, um, in those days, you had to pay tax on um records if you shipped them to Europe.”
Undated
Branson says Virgin expanded quickly to generate the turnover needed to pay off the fine, which it repaid within three years.
“and yes, we expanded fast in order to pay pay off the fine”
Undated
After Branson's record-attempt boat sank in the Atlantic, British Airways ran a full-page ad reading 'Next time, Richard, take the plane'.
“the ad said, Next time, Richard, take the plane”
Undated
Branson says the HBO docuseries on his life was made by the director Chris Smith, and that Branson had no input into it.
“a really good documentary maker, and and Chris Smith is one of the best in the world”
Undated
Branson says his main house was burnt down once and blown down in a hurricane, which made archive footage hard to find for the docuseries.
“we'd had my my main house burnt down, um, my my main house blown down in a hurricane, um, twice”
Undated
Branson says Mikhail Gorbachev invited him to fly in a Russian spaceship for about $60 million, which he declined, prompting him to think about building his own.
“he invited me to come to Russia to be the first person to go up in a Russian, um, spaceship, um, but it would have meant, uh, a big check, um, you know, 60 million”
Undated
Branson registered Virgin Galactic Airways and searched the world for someone to build a spaceship.
“we registered Virgin Galactic Airways, and um, and I was set up, went, went around the world trying to see if we could find somebody to build us a spaceship”
Undated
Branson says a Virgin train derailed, killing one woman, and that he drove through the night to reach the scene and meet the relatives.
“and one of our trains had come off the track”
Undated
Before his Pacific hot air balloon attempt, a television journalist from ITN was finishing an obituary for Branson in case he did not return.
“Thurgood from I T N was just finishing editing my obituary, um, in case I didn't come back”
Undated
Branson met his wife Joan about forty-five years before the interview at a recording studio called The Manor.
“I was lucky enough to meet her forty five years ago in a recording studio, um, uh, called The Manor”
Episodes