Richard Branson Net Worth

Richard Branson Net Worth

How much is Richard Branson worth:

  • Full Name: Richard Charles Branson
  • Net Worth: $4.9 Billion
  • Occupation:Entrepreneur
  • Marital Status: Married
  • Ethnicity: White

 

Richard Branson Net Worth – How He Built His Financial Empire From Scratch

The son of a flight attendant and barrister dropped out of school at the age of 16. After which he started an art and culture magazine. At the age of twenty, Branson opened a recording studio. Richard Branson Net Worth is an estimate of 4.9 billion dollars, according to Forbes.

Sir Richard Branson Profile

Richard Branson is one of the richest people in Britain. Richard’s fortunes can be attributed to a number of businesses he controls. All his businesses bear the brand ‘Virgin’. His net worth of 4.9 billion dollar makes him far wealthier than Queen Elizabeth. She has a personal net worth of about $500 million.

Branson became a millionaire by harnessing the power of business brands. Over the years Branson has owned a number of major companies. Even so, that is not the main source of his wealth. He owes everything to the Virgin Brand. Without it he wouldn’t have been where he is today. Virgin is one of the most popular brands in the world. He launched it in the 1970s.

How He Created The Brand

Richard Branson Pictures Branson started building his business empire in back in the 1970s. He started by establishing a music record business. After a few years down the line, the billionaire established a record label. In addition to this, he also opened a record shop in London in order to compliment his investment.

After about a decade, the Virgins Records became one of the main forces in the music industry. In 1979, his company opened a megastore that later expanded and became a global chain. Five years later, Branson invested into a totally different industry – airlines – called Virgin Atlantic. The Virgin Atlantic became a major threat to British Airways on several crucial routes. Despite the competition, Virgin Atlantic won the market share, becoming a global threat to other airline businesses. Virgin Atlantic is one of the Branson’s major businesses.

Ever since he started an airline business, Branson has placed the Virgin label in many other businesses. Today, Virgin Airlines are popular in the United States and Australia. He has also established one of the cable operators in the UK known as Virgin Media. Aside from this he also launched Virgin Money which offers financial services in the UK. Also, the Virgin Mobile brand can be found in many countries worldwide.

Even so, Virgin Megastores are no longer as influential as they used to be. This can be attributed to the decline of physical DVD and CD sales. On the other hand, Virgin Cola tried to take over the UK and US market but couldn’t match the popularity of Coca-Cola who has been there since time immemorial.

How Did Richard Branson Become Rich?

The secret to Branson’s success has everything to do with the Virgin brand. As a matter of fact, Virgin Group do not have complete of most businesses under the Virgin umbrella. Most businesses using Virgin label have only acquired the right to use the label. This means that they do not have any relationship with the Virgin Group.

Richard Branson Photos

In 1992, Branson decided to sell his record label forabout 1 billion dollars to raise more capital for his Virgin Atlantic. Branson also closed Virgin Megastores in 2007. In 2000 about 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic shares were sold to Singapore Airlines for almost $1 billion.

Final Thoughts

Virgin America and all other companies that use Virgin Label pay royalties to Richard for use of the name.  These royalties paid to Branson can total up to millions of dollars each year. Around 40 years ago, Richard Branson was just an owner of one record shop in London. At the moment, he is worth thrice as much as Roger Federer and Michael Vick.