Richard Branson on The David Rubenstein Show

[Music] where to the name virgin come from one of the girls left and said you a virgin at business did you get a finder's fee for that I've American you began building other companies the only reason we would go into a new sector is if we felt it was being badly run is there something in your life you haven't achieved we are on the verge of finally fulfilling fulfilling that dream a Virgin Galactic spaceship going to space now you're a sure you're knighted I was slightly nervous it would have been a slice of the slice of a head rather than a tap on the shoulder would you fix your time please well people wouldn't recognize me if my tie was fixed but okay just steam it this way all right I don't consider myself a journalist and nobody else would consider myself a journalist I began to take on the life of being an interviewer even though I have a day job running a private equity firm how do you define leadership what is it that makes somebody tick you've written two books one is losing your virginity and one is finding your virginity and in those books you describe this incredible path how you've gone from very modest meanings to this great wealth when you started life you were not a great scholar as a young boy because you had a dyslexia when did you realize you had dyslexia and was it a problem for you early on I in conventional schooling terms it was a big problem I mean I would sit at the back of the class look at the look at the blackboard and it was just a jumble and and and you know the you know I was thought of as you know a bit lazy a bit thick I mean you know or a mixture of the two and if I was interested in something I generally excelled and and what I was interested in was what was going on in the world so the Vietnamese war was going on there was a general sort of 60s sort of uprising of students taking place and so I decided to start a magazine to campaign against the things that I thought were wrong in the world in particular the Vietnamese this was when you're 15 years ago so you dropped out of school at more or less 15 or so you start the magazine and as part of the magazine you get interviews with some prominent people one of whom was Mick Jagger or is it hard to get an interview with Mick Jagger when you're 15 years old do you know I think in some ways if you're 15 you have a better chance of getting interviews with people than if you're you know 30 or 40 or 50 and you know I would I would just turn up at people's houses and you know doors open and because I was young and and and enthusiastic they generally took pity on me ultimately you decided to start a record company where did you get that idea from and we - the name virgin come from why not branch him and we were sitting 5060 years old we were sitting in the basement with a bunch of girls we were throwing out ideas and we got down to either slip disc records because of the black vinyls had always had scratches and slipped or virgin and one of the girls laughed and said well we're all virgins and you're virgin at business why don't you call it virgin and let me get a finder's fee for that over there I can't remember who if she's out there she can be delighted a giver one and but you know but it I mean it's very fortunate because we've gone into so many different sectors so many different businesses we've been a virgin you know in all of these different sectors and slip disc airlines would not have probably you've started a record company and initially it's a record a retailer right yeah we started as initially it was a mail-order selling records much cheaper than anybody else had done and then so we're the first people to sell records at a discount and then there was a mail-order strike for six weeks and so we went looking for a very very cheap music store in Oxford Street then you start building the virgin megastores gigantic stores and you had a lot of stores in UK and other places how many did you have in one point we had about 300 mega stores around the world in all that all the main places like Times Square Sean's alizée Oxford Street at the heyday of when you know when music was really all that young people did I mean the before games before mobile phones before all the other things the young success was the Virgin name your self promotion of it or you were selling things cheaper than other people what was the said virgin was synonymous with you know music credibility's their Frank's apparel and the Rolling Stones I mean you know so we had a very credible brand and you know one day there was a young artist came to me with tastic tape and I took it to a number of record companies and they none of them would put it out so I thought screw that we'll start our own record company and and and and we put it out on our own record company and and and it was called tubular bells by Mike Oldfield and it became a great success so you have a record retailing company and a record production company in both called virgin yep somebody drove through AV for you to be your logo we decided we needed a move slightly hip her looking label and somebody just came that came up with this very simple signature but then you decide well I need to start an airline where did that idea come from it came from I was trying to get from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands I was 28 years old and I had a lovely lady waiting for me and and you went to the Virgin Islands because you like the name virgin eyes exactly and and actually that's true and anyway American Airlines bumped bumped us and and I wanted I'd been away from this lady for three weeks so I went to the back of the airport I had a plane I hoped my credit card wouldn't bounce and I got a black board I wrote Virgin Airlines one-way $39 the vivia I went to all the other people who were bumped and I feel like my first plane and and when we landed in the vbi the passenger next to me said you know sharpen up the service a bit and you could be in the airline business and I thought okay so the next day I rang up Boeing and said do you have only secondhand 747s for sale we started with one secondhand 747 against British Airways 300 planes and Pan Am and TWA 300 planes British Airways launched a dirty-tricks campaign against this which would and they did everything they could to drive us out of business and we took them to court we won the biggest damages in British history and it was Christmas time we gave we distribute it to all our staff equally and and so we I think they have every year they hope the British Airways will launch the dirty tricks campaign against us people like the fact that you were against the establishment airline and one time I read that knew that the what's now called the I I guess it's the big ferris wheel in London the British air was supporting it and they couldn't get it assembled they couldn't actually get the thing to work and you rented a was it a blimp we actually had a little blimp company just outside London and we scrambled the blimp and we flew over the over the fly that was still lying flat on the ground and there all the world's press were there to watch this eye being erected and all we said was you know be a can't get it up on the inside of the airship so how did the the newspapers worry we got we got we got the headlines they didn't answer so it turned out pretty well and then you began building other companies and you always think that the name virgin and your creativity could get them off the ground well again the only reason we would go into a new sector is if we felt it was being badly run by other people so the reason we went into trains was the government were running trains British Rail was dilapidated trains you know a miserable service and we just felt you know we could we could go in we could get fantastic new rail stock we could motivate the staff and we could make a big difference and so we took over you know the busiest line in Britain the West Coast Main Line and we've gone from 8 million passengers to nearly 40 million passengers and and you know I think transformed the experience for people and you know in every in every new sector that we've gone into we've seen you know a gaping gap in the market where the big guys have not been doing it very well and where we can come in and you know shake up an industry how many companies have you started with the name virgin is it a few hundred by now it's it's in excess of 300 300 and everyone presumably that hasn't worked a couple just couldn't have worked so when you start them and they don't work you just end them after a year or so or yeah I mean but none of them have ever been filed for bankruptcy we've been fortunate we've never had a bankrupt company and if something doesn't work out we you know we'll we'll make sure that we settle all the debts and then move on to the next company now you're a sir you're knighted did you ever expect to be a member of royalty and affectaura knighted we once put out a record called and god save the queen by the Sex Pistols I was slightly nervous if she that she remembered the words on the record that you know it would have been a slice of the slice of a head rather than a tap on the shoulder these are something in your life you haven't achieved that you'd like to achieve we spent 14 years working on a space program and it's been tough and and and spaces space is tough it is rocket science and and I you know I think we we are on the verge of finally fulfilling fulfilling that dream and you know before the end of the year I hope I hope to be you know sitting in a Virgin Galactic spaceship going to space you've got about two hundred thousand people or maybe more now that signed up are they still there ready to go well I mean actually signed up and paid up it's about eight eight hundred what does it cost to pay up its two hundred and fifty thousand dollars you know I mean there there's about fifty percent of people watching this program would love to go to space and there's about fifty percent who would think it but you know these people are mad what do they want to go to space for but the market of people who want to go to space is his gigantic and and and we hope to be able to you know to satisfy quite a few of those do you think you can make a profit on this in the end or is it really just a love of doing this so I never go into adventure with the idea of making a profit you know if you can create the best in its field generally speaking you'll find that you'll pay the bills and and you'll make a profit so the way as I understand it works it's not like a rocket goes off you have an airplane and attached to it is another airplane and the one that separates goes into outer space is upright the one that drops will then fire its rocket and you'll go in about naught to 10 seconds you'll be traveling at 3,000 miles an hour in into space and then how long would you be in space under the ride that you're so they the whole experience would be something like three hours so will you be on the first flight I'll be on the first official flight we've got you know very brave astronauts who actually test pilots who are you know testing the craft time and time again and ironing out you know anything that can go wrong before myself and and members of the public go out so I'm sure it'll be safe but one time when you were doing hot-air ballooning ha you weren't sure whether you would survive with the ballooning adventures I was doing something that that nobody had done before I was you know trying to you know fly across the Atlantic or the Pacific or go around the world in a balloon I was flying it you know 40,000 feet and in the jet stream you know with one with one other person peer Lindstrand and and you know the technology was completely unproven they were we were the test pilots that was more dangerous things could go wrong and they did go right you said a number of Guinness World Records for that but in hindsight do you have any regrets about taking those risks on the hot-air balloon it's interesting you know my son and daughter now setting themselves big adventures every year dragging their dad along on some of them you know and I think as a family we feel you know live life live life to its full and and you know you can you know you can you can you can die in a road accident you can die in a just a normal bike ride and quite often when you're actually completely focused on and the it's less likely in some way that you're going to die in an adventure because you're you're ready and sharp and and they know how to deal with it so you're very well recognized for all the things you've done around the world but also your hair and your goatee are really well recognized so did this always have you had a goatee most of your adult life and your hair is always this length I've been a hippie yep ever since I was 15 years old and and and I've had a beard pretty well ever since I was 15 and 16 years old so I shaved it off once when we launched a company called virgin brides and I put my foot a bride in a bridal dress on and and and anyway gave people a good laugh and we found there weren't any virgin brides so that business didn't succeed for very long and then or maybe it was the fact that I didn't look the most fat sheep right so now you were a sir you're knighted did you ever expect to be a member of royalty in effect or knighted we once put out a record called and God saved the Queen by the Sex Pistols on the silver jubilee and and and then I found myself 25 years later being knighted but and I was slightly nervous if she that if she remembered the words on the record that that you know it would have been a slice a slice of the head rather than a tap on the shoulder but and she she was she forgave us anyway this wasn't done at the Tower of London I guess so it fortunately it wasn't done in the Tower of London for those that may not know about Necker Island so I understand it in the late 1970s there was an opportunity to buy an island in the British Virgin Islands yeah I mean I they wanted five million dollars for this beautiful island and I thought I could scrape together about a hundred thousand so I offered a hundred thousand nobody else fortunately came to see the island so a year later they said if I make it a 120,000 we'd an island and I went every went everywhere to borrow borrow and beg to get 120,000 and and we ended up with the most beautiful island in the world so you've built a house there and there's also a resort I mean Necker has become it is our home it's an you know a magical place and you know we have fantastic get-togethers that people and sometimes you know conferences there where we were where we try to you know sort of sort out the problems of the world or just people come on holiday and you know a book the whole island Barack Obama and Michelle Obama managed to go to Mecca ramen he was good enough to invite me to the Oval Office for lunch about three months before he stepped down and we had a lovely lunch where basically agree with each other on most most aspects of life so I guess he was a nice house guest both of them oh and perhaps he delightful and you know and I think you know we had a fun competition and anyway he beat me here he let he learnt to kite and before I could fall aboard and and and you know they yep I mean they say it was a great privilege to spend time though well many times people who become financially successful and otherwise with well known they seem to be unhappy for some reason I'd be a very sad person if it wasn't a very happy person I mean I've been blessed and every day I'm learning you know I mean I didn't you know I see life is the one long university education I never had I feel like I haven't a student [Music] you've met a lot of great leaders you've brought a lot of them together in something called the elders which are people like Nelson Mandela and others who were great leaders in their time and you were very close to Nelson Mandela very close I was very lucky that for 10 years we knew each other very well and xena so we set up the elders which twelve incredible men and women who go into conflicts and try to resolve conflicts and if you know conflicts I think that may be the most important thing because if you have a conflict everything else breaks down what is it that makes great leadership in your view I think being a really good listener is one of them things and I think when I lit when I sit around you know listening to the elders talk in elders meetings you know you you realize that you know why they've become elders is because you know they're they they've spent their lifetime listening and absorbing and and then you know only only speaking you know you know choosing their words carefully I think loving people I mean I think you know a genuine love of a genuine love of everybody you know and you know looking for the best in people I mean even you know even if they're there being a pain you know you you can normally find the best in in pretty well anybody when you're businessman leader if you're a business leader if somebody's watching this and wants to be Richard Branson or Sir Richard Branson what is the key I surrender yourself with great people learning to delegate early on not trying to do everything yourself you know making sure you've got the kind of people that are praising their team around them not criticizing that people and and you know having people are willing to you know to really innovate be bold and create something which everybody who works for the company can be really proud of now one of the great things about your life is you've had a terrific family life you've been married for more than 40 years where did you meet your wife I met her in a recording studio called the manner in which is the studio we had in the UK and was it love at first sight it was from my point of view assist Lucy was making a cup of tea I looked across the room and I was absolutely smitten and I then she was with with somebody else I had to I had to I'm afraid chaser and okay my nick nick name became tag along because the friend who worked at virgin knew her and I would ask her if I could tag along when she was going out to dinner I worked out and you have two children who you're very close to I always think it's important if somebody's successful can can do this while their parents are alive and your father died a few years ago but he lived to be a 93 93 your mother is still alive what was it like having your parents seen your success oh and look at who it was it was wonderful to be here to be able to share it with them my mum you know that my first $200 that I got to start my business my mum found a necklace and went to the police station handed it in and nobody claimed it and she got she managed to sell it for $200 and that was you know that was the critical money that helped help me start and you know which managed to sort of share you know this wonderful wonderful life that I've been lucky enough to lead with with them and and and with my mother we still do in the philanthropic world what would you say is the thing you're most focused on in the philanthropic humanitarian area where is a little bit of a sort of serial philanthropists in the same way that you know we just we were a serial entrepreneur and in that I find it difficult saying no to you know projects that I feel they're important did you ever think when you were growing up that you'd be wealthy enough to give away staggering sums of money I said that certainly never dreamed that that that you know that the incredible dream of my life would it would it would have actually happened and and that and that that would one one day be in a position to to and make it you know hopefully make a difference so many times people who become financially successful and otherwise we're well known they seem to be unhappy for some reason but you seem to be a very happy person very content is that a fair assessment um I just think it would be and I'd be a very sad person if I wasn't a very happy person I mean I've been blessed to have a absolutely lovely lovely lady we're complete opposites but you know we get on great you know if blessed we've been together most of our lives blessed have wonderful children wonderful grandchildren and and every day I'm learning you know I mean I didn't you know I see life as the one long university education I never had I'm learning something new from you know getting out there listening to people and and you know I've scribbled everything down and and and and I feel like I am a perpetual student let me ask you a question IDs Bill Gates do you think you could have been more successful in life if you had a university degree obviously be more successful and no III I mean the age forty I had turned to my wife and said I think I might give everything up and go to university and and she turned to me and said you just want to go and shut up those young ladies at the university you go straight back to work and it was good advice [Music]

Channel: David Rubenstein

Views: 230,022

Rating: 4.8747725 out of 5

Keywords: Bloomberg, brexit, sir richard branson, virgin airlines, virgin galactic

Id: lFchP5bLzM0

Length: 24min 2sec (1442 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 25 2018