Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson flies to space: 10 things to know about him
Who is Richard Branson? A school dropout, Branson started his first business venture at 15, which was a school magazine.
A British entrepreneur, billionaire Richard Branson is known as a flamboyant person for his spectacular choice of action, be it arriving at a press conference in spacesuits, or driving a tank on New York's Fifth Avenue or crossing teh English Channel in an amphibious car.
Here are 10 things to know about Richard Branson
1. Richard Branson was born in 1950, July 18 in the United Kingdom. His mother was an air hostess with British South American Airways.
2. A school dropout, Branson started his first business venture at 15, which was a school magazine.
3. At the age of 20, he started his Virgin company, which now operated more than 40 companies across five continents.
4. His Virgin Records that he launched in 1973 represented the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, the Smashing Pumpkins and the Spice Girls. In 1992, he sold Virgin Records for $1 billion.
5. In 1978, Richard Branson bought Necker Island in the Caribbean for $180,000 on the condition that he would build a resort within four years.
6. Virgin Atlantic airlines was launched in 1984. A year later, he made his first attempt to make fastest-ever boat crossing the Atlantic but it capsized.
7. Richard Branson received a knighthood for services to entrepreneurship, rolls out Virgin Cars, Virgin Student, Virginmoney.com, Virgin Wines and Virgin Energy businesses.
8. Virgin Galactic was launched in 2004, though Richard Branson registered the name in 1999, according to space.com.
9. In 2014, Virgin Galactic's passenger spaceship crashed during a test flight, killing one pilot and injuring the other.
10. Branson initially signed himself and his children up for the company's first commercial flight into space before deciding to join today's test flight.
(With Agency Inputs)
