"A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts. "

Entrepreneur Thinks We're All Virgins!

Richard Branson is an entrepreneur, adventurer and founder and CEO of the Virgin Group. Virgin has interests in music, travel, telecommunications and even beverages.

The Virgin brand was created after a friend involved in the initial record label commented "We're all virgins at business."

While a student at Stowe, an English public school, Branson started Student Magazine. By 17 he opened a Student Advisory Centre, which was his first charity organization. In 1970, he started a record mail order business and soon after a record shop in Oxford Street, London. Then in 1972 he started the record label, Virgin Records with Nik Powell. His first issue was Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. The album was a huge success, selling over 5 million copies. Branson signed the Sex Pistols, whose contract had been cancelled by other record labels.

The Virgin Music Group - record labels, music publishing, and recording studios - was sold to Thorn EMI in 1992 in a $1 billion deal.

Since that time, the Virgin Group has expanded into international music megastores, air travel, mobile, financial, retail, music, internet, drinks, rail, hotels and leisure, with around 200 companies in over 30 countries.

Virgin Atlantic Airways, formed in 1984, is now the second largest British long haul international airline and operates a fleet of Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 aircraft to cities around the world. The airline has won many major awards, including Airline of the Year Award several times.

During 1997, Virgin took over Britain's two most run-down rail franchises, CrossCountry and the West Coast Main Line. Virgin is currently engaged in a £2 billion fleet replacement programme. Virgin also started Virgin Express, a short-haul airline based in Nigeria. Virgin America will launch out of San Francisco by the end of 2006. Virgin also developed a soft drink company called Virgin Cola and Virgin Vodka, neither of which have been successful.

In 2002, the combined sales of the different Virgin holding companies exceeded £4billion. In addition to his own business activities, Richard is a trustee of several charities including the Virgin Healthcare Foundation, a leading healthcare charity which was responsible for the launch of a health education campaign relating to AIDS in 1987.

Not content to be a highly successful businessman, Branson has been involved in adventures in the water and the air. In 1986 his boat, "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II" crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the fastest time ever recorded. This was followed a year later by the epic hot air balloon crossing of the Atlantic in "Virgin Atlantic Flyer". This was both the first hot-air balloon to cross the Atlantic, and the largest ever flown at 2.3 million cubic feet capacity, reaching speeds in excess of 130 miles per hour (209 k/ph).

In January 1991 Richard crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic Canada, a distance of 6,700 miles. Again, he broke all existing records, with speeds of up to 245 miles -per hour in a balloon of 2.6 million cubic feet. Between 1995 and 1998 Richard Branson, Per Lindstrand and Steve Fossett (who joined the team after the death of Alex Ritchie), made a number of attempts to circumnavigate the globe by balloon. In late 1998 they made a record-breaking flight from Morocco to Hawaii but their dream of a global flight was shattered by bad weather, and then a Swiss team successfully circumnavigated the globe in early 1999.

In 1992 Branson sued British Airways after a campaign called "dirty tricks." He was then countersued by John King, chairperson of British Airways, in 1993. Facing likely defeat, British Airways settled the case, giving £500,000 to Branson, a further £110,000 to his airline and had to pay legal fees in the millions of pounds. Branson divided his compensation (the so-called BA bonus) among his staff.

In December 1999, Branson was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Millennium New Year's Honours List for "services to entrepreneurship". The same year his autobiography, "Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, And Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way," was released.

Branson describes himself as a libertarian and reputedly considered running for Mayor of London in 2004, but ultimately decided against it. He is a very highly regarded celebrity in the UK.

Branson's net worth is estimated to be about $5 billion.