Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English entrepreneur, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies.
Branson's first successful business venture was at age 15, when he published a magazine called Student. He then set up a record mail-order business in 1970. In 1971, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores and rebranded as zavvi in late 2007.
With his flamboyant and competitive style, Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s - as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.
Today, his net worth is estimated at over £4 billion (US$7.8 billion) according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2006, or US$3.8 billion according to Forbes magazine.
Branson was born at Stonefield Nursing Home in Blackheath, South London, the son of Edward James Branson and Eve née Huntley Flindt. His grandfather the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson was a Judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor. Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School (now Bishopsgate School) until the age of thirteen. He then attended Stowe School until he was fifteen. Branson has dyslexia, resulting in poor academic performance as a student. He was the captain of football, rugby union and cricket teams, and by the age of fifteen he had started two ventures that eventually failed: one growing Christmas trees and another raising budgerigars.