Pauline Etienne
4 January 2008
Port Louis — He is keeping us waiting. The president of Virgin Atlantic has postponed his trip here for the second time. This is another proof, if necessary, that he is a busy man who may enjoy keeping the suspense over his original personality!
Richard Branson is among the top businessmen of the world but it is still rare to see him wearing a suit
We will not have the chance of being visited by the charismatic president of Virgin Atlantic. While invitations were already out for the official launching of the airline in Mauritius for next Monday, the visit of the businessman has been cancelled at the last-minute - as well as the grandiose celebrations! Although no date has been mentioned yet, Richard Branson should come to Mauritius soon. This gives us the opportunity to introduce you to the busy businessman
His next challenge may be to take paying passengers into space this year. Richard Branson is miles away from any other businessman. Hardly has he touched a sector than he gets fed up soon afterwards and needs a new challenge to take up. The British Sir has absolutely nothing of the millionaire - he however is - but his special character has clearly been the cause of his success
The image of the large Virgin group is just intrinsically linked with that of its big boss. During the first years of his business - he started with a mail order record company before he opened his first store in London's Oxford Street in the seventies - he just paid the same average salary to all his employees. There was no true hierarchy in his company and everyone called him "Richard".
The atmosphere is so relax at the office that people tend to forget that they are working to earn a living but feel they just like working. The casual clothes worn by the big boss and his employees are now just part of the trademark of the large group. Even today, despite the great success his companies have experienced and the recognised businessman he has become, it is still extremely rare to see Sir Richard Branson wearing a suit.
Love for adrenaline-kicking activities
His non-conformist image has even rubbed off on the way he takes on people. A television programme showed Richard Branson choosing his employees according to their abilities for parachuting. They had to undergo a series of physical tests to be promoted.
These quite unusual experiences may be due to this man's love for adrenaline-kicking activities. He was the first to cross the Atlantic and the Pacific in a large hot air balloon and he broke all speed records. "In late 1998, they made a record-breaking flight from Morocco to Hawaii," states the free online Wikipedia encyclopaedia. He would have liked to break the record of the global flight but he did not manage to do so.
In fact, his behaviour as an adult may come from the education he received from his mother, Eve, who has always driven him towards more autonomy and independence. At the age of four, his mother told him to get off the car and walk home. He got lost in the middle of the British countryside and reached a neighbouring farm. The idea was to make him become more responsible.
His parents were really anxious about his poor academic performance but they finally agreed when he decided to give up school at the age of sixteen. This is when he launched his first successful business, Student Magazine. He opened his first charity, the Student Advisory Centre, a year later - before starting in the record business. His love for challenges and innovation has brought the small company to expand into international music Megastores, air travel, mobile, financial, retail, Internet, drinks, rail, hotels and leisure with about 200 companies in over 30 countries. He also purchased 74-acre Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands at no less than £ 150 million.
His immense wealth - amounting to £3.065 billion according to The Sunday Times - and the fun he has with it does not prevent him however from being "engaged in the serious business of supporting health and education projects in Africa"."Anyone would feel an enormous sense of guilt going to one of these places - and if you're in a position to do something about it you've got to make an effort," he declared to BBC News.
Because he has seen "literally waiting rooms where people with HIV/Aids are waiting for an empty bed, where someone has died the day before, where they then go to die," Richard Branson has developed the "responsibility to apply the necessary evil of capitalism to best advantage". For him, the responsibility is to invest in creating new businesses, creating jobs, employing people and putting money aside to tackle issues where he can make a difference.
We are really looking forward to his visit!
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