Today, I’ m going to be interviewing one of the top business geniuses on the planet, also an incredibly cool guy, Sir Richard Branson.
JOE POLISH
INTERVIEWS THE FOUNDER OF THE VIRGIN
EMPIRE SIR RICHARD BRANSON
If you don’ t already know who Sir Richard Branson is, he’ s ballooned across the Atlantic; he’ s signed the Sex Pistols, Janet Jackson, Boy George and all kinds of famous musicians; he has been knighted by the Queen of England. His company Virgin is home to more than 350 companies, from gyms, gambling houses and bridal boutiques to fleets of planes, trains and limousines. He even owns his own Caribbean island, Necker Island. Now, Richard Branson is moving onward and upward into space tourism. His company Virgin Galactic is slated to start carrying passengers into the thermosphere in 2018, at a whopping $ 200,000 a ticket, which is probably a good deal for space travel. Anyway, Branson also has a philanthropic streak. He’ s pledged the next 10 years of profits from his transportation empire, an amount that’ s expected to reach $ 3-billion, to the development of renewable alternatives to carbon fuels. Then, there’ s his Virgin Earth Challenge, which offers a $ 25-million prize to the first person to come up with an economically viable solution to the greenhouse gas problem. He’ s risked his life numerous times. He’ s done all kinds of crazy things. In spite of that, he’ s been enormously successful. His company has revenues of $ 25-billion a year. He has over 50,000 employees; he knows a lot of people and knows a lot of stuff about running a business. So, join me as I interview Sir Richard Branson, and we’ re going to talk about success and contribution, and how you can have the same sort of things in your own entrepreneurial venture.
Joe: Before I get started, Richard, I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to do this interview with me. Where are you at, right now? Are you on Necker Island? Richard: I’ m very fortunate in Necker Island Joe: You have such a huge reputation. A lot of people focus on you and who you are as a very successful individual. So before we get started, since the theme of this interview is to be around success and contribution, what is Sir Richard Branson’ s definition of success? Richard: As a businessperson, success is creating something that I can be proud of. It is creating something that the people around me could be proud of, creating something that really makes a difference, that maybe shakes up whole industries and actually results in people’ s lives never being quite the same again, and hopefully, for the better. I want to get out there and create things that make a real difference. Joe: Gotcha. Now, just curious, as a billionaire do you feel successful on most days? How do you actually feel, as a person? Richard: I’ ve obviously been born fortunate. I love people. I enjoy every single minute of my life. It’ s not all roses. There are ups and downs. But I’ m an eternal optimist. I always look for the best in everything. As a result, I think I get the best. No complaints at all, basically. Joe: What does a successful day look like to you? I’ m just absolutely curious about how do you spend most of your days? I think it would be valuable for our readers to know and perhaps use you as a model in their own lives? Richard: My life is incredibly varied, which makes it extremely interesting. In the last 10 days, I’ ve been to I think 12 different countries; everything from Africa with the elders through to Amsterdam for an environmental conference, through Canada,
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