Richard Branson. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, best known as the founder and chairman of Virgin Group of more than

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, best known as the founder and chairman of Virgin Group of more than 400 companies.

Branson was born in Blackheath, London. Branson has dyslexia and had poor academic performance as a student, but later discovered his ability to connect with others.

His first business venture was a magazine called Student at the age of 16. In 1970, he set up an audio-record mail-order business. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.

Branson started his record business from the crypt of a church where he ran The Student. Branson advertised popular records in The Student Magazine and it was an overnight success. Trading under the name "Virgin", he sold records for considerably less than the "High Street" outlets, especially the chain W. H. Smith. Branson once said, "There is no point in starting your own business unless you do it out of a sense of frustration." The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees because they were all new at business. At the time, many products were sold under restrictive marketing agreements that limited discounting. Branson began the series of changes that led to large-scale discounting of recorded music.

Branson eventually started a record shop in Oxford Street in London in 1971. Earning enough money from his record store, Branson in 1972 launched the record label Virgin Records and bought a country estate, in which he installed a recording studio. Virgin signed such controversial bands as the Sex Pistols, which other companies were reluctant to sign. In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI for £500 million. Branson says that he wept when the sale was completed since the record business had been the birth of the Virgin Empire. He later created V2 Records to re-enter the music business.

Branson formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, launched Virgin Mobile in 1999, Virgin Blue in Australia (now named Virgin Australia) in 2000.

In 1993, Branson entered into the railway business. Virgin Trains won the franchises for the former Intercity West Coast and Cross-Country sectors of British Rail.

Virgin acquired European short-haul airline Euro Belgian Airlines in 1996 and renamed it Virgin Express. In 2006, the airline was merged with SN Brussels Airlines forming Brussels Airlines, Another airline, Virgin America, began flying out of San Francisco International Airport in August 2007. Branson has also developed a Virgin Cola brand and even a Virgin Vodka brand, which has not been a very successful enterprise. On 25 September 2004, Branson announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology behind Spaceship One to take paying passengers into suborbital space. Virgin Galactic (wholly owned by Virgin Group) plans to make flights available to the public with tickets priced at US$200,000.