Stirring up the world, resting to the death, treating the world as a circus and playground, having fun, not getting drunk and not returning, Branson is the best commentary on a lifetime of indulgence and love of freedom.
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Just the day before yesterday, Richard Branson, the founder of the $13 billion Virgin brand, rushed to the edge of the earth at the age of 71 aboard a space plane from virgin galactic, a subsidiary of his company.
With two more test flights, Virgin can officially send guests on a space tour.
Some say there is no technological innovation in suborbital flight, some say branson did not reach true outer space, and even his competitor, Bezos's Blue Origin, is talking about the wind and cool on the side.
In 2004, Branson founded Virgin Galactic with plans to provide commercial space tourism
However, Yu Yanjie still felt excited and admired.
The blue ocean of commercial spaceflight is open, the cost is diluted after the technology matures, and everyone can go to space tourism, how to see it is a good thing.
In addition, there is no state reimbursement for commercial spaceflight, and it is up to investors to pay for it themselves.
Branson has burned $1 billion in 17 years, and now a ticket sells for just $220,000, and even if inflation is not counted, he has to sell 4,546 tickets to cover the cost.
Not only that, but the test flight was fraught with dangers, and in 2014, during the test flight of Branson's aviation plane, it exploded over the California desert.
If it is just to make money, now that the REAL estate in the United States has soared, it is not fragrant to speculate like the Trump family, it is already a 70-year-old man, why engage in this kind of risky business.
So, for Branson, who experienced the space hegemony of the United States and the Soviet Union when he was young, what does it mean to enter the space field?
"I always find ways to live happily"
Heavily influenced by hippie and punk cultures, Richard Branson is arguably the world's most legendary and charismatic billionaire.
Embracing, going to the sea, life and death, only trying to be happy, breaking a number of adventure world records.
What is the front wave, the back wave, compared to Branson, it is not called a wave. Riding the fastest horse, drinking the strongest wine, climbing the highest mountain, said Branson.
Like Musk, Branson has a family heritage of adventure and a legendary mother.
When Branson's mother was young, she dressed as a man as a glider instructor because the job was only for men. He later joined the Navy, became a flight attendant after the war, even passed the advanced Latin dance exam at the age of 89, and traveled the world on a cruise ship shortly before his death at the age of 99.
Don't look at Branson's left and right embrace, he and his second wife met for more than ten years and married, and now has spent 31 years, with a son and a daughter and 3 grandchildren
Branson inherited his mother's genes exactly, and if there is one word to describe him, it is that he loves fun, loves adventure, has fun, uses the world as a playground, and has done countless crazy acts in 70 years.
He flew over the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon and was fished out of the sea by the Air Force after crashing.
In 1987, Branson's hot air balloon crashed during landfall, essentially completing plans to fly across the Atlantic. Seven people before him had tried the same behavior
He flew from Japan to Canada in a hot air balloon again, and survived after being blown to the North Pole by the wind, setting two world records for flight time and flight distance.
In 1991, Branson and his companions flew from Japan to Canada and from Morocco to Hawaii. The largest hot air balloon ever built by Virgin
He drove an amphibious vehicle across the English Channel in 1 hour and 40 minutes, breaking the world record at the time.
Branson was the first customer of the Aquada, a high-speed amphibious vehicle. In 2004, he drove across the English Channel to France
During the Gulf War, he mediated through his personal connections and flew a plane to Baghdad to bring back 40 hostages detained by Saddam Hussein.
During the Gulf War, Branson unloaded all the seats on a plane and helped the United Nations transport blankets, rice, and medical supplies to Iraqi refugees
In addition, he also walked around the world climbing up and down, encountering dangerous situations such as boulders slipping down many times. You often use a kite to drag yourself to surf, or pull a rope to jump down from a tall building.
Branson said his dumbest jump was jumping down a 40-story building in Las Vegas. As a result, an accident occurred in the middle of the way, and he crashed into the outer wall of the building
In 2018, 68-year-old Branson encountered a landslide while climbing the Alps. A rock the size of a car rolled toward him
Jumping off a building is nothing to him
His face had been fractured, his legs had been bitten by sharks, his teeth had fallen out of several, and he was covered in injuries. No insurance company was willing to accept his policy, so he opened his own insurance company and sold it to himself.
Rao was like this, and he didn't know whether he had practiced well in his previous life or how, but people had to live to this day with nine lives. At the age of 70, he rushed to the edge of the earth and experienced a weightlessness in space.
Branson and another adventurous businessman, Steve Fawcett, are good friends who feel sorry for each other. The two men scrambled to set a new world record
In addition to his heavenly adventures, he also has all kinds of nonsense ideas. For example, men dress up as women and put on wedding dresses to promote Virgin's new marriage business.
▲The legs are quite thin
For example, driving a tank into Times Square and crushing Coca-Cola on the ground, everyone noticed that Virgin began to sell its own Coke.
For example, walking the streets of London with 20 nude models, with the slogan "What you see is what you get," to promote the new Virgin mobile phone.
▲ It is difficult to find a picture without dew point
Because of a bet with a friend on an F1 car, Branson, who lost, shaved his leg and crossed the flight attendant as agreed, and he was 62 years old at the time.
Still excited, still having fun.
▲ This is also too hot for the eyes
In business, Branson also showed a childlike personality, in addition to aviation, he also developed more than 200 Virgin brands such as records, cruise ships, hotels, space, and even condoms, forming a veritable Virgin Empire.
It can be said that the ancient version of Musk, the same want to do, the same imagination.
Branson's philosophy is that if you can run a company well, you can run any company
Such an old man, tirelessly tossing and turning, in addition to commercial considerations, is also his nature.
Like someone asked Branson, is venturing out of the limelight to promote Virgin?
Branson said: "Definitely not, if you do publicity, you can make a cameo in "Friends", which can use real knives and guns to fight hard! ”
▲ Branson made a cameo appearance in "Friends"
However, who knows that the boss who has tried everything in heaven and earth and figured out the old plane to put rockets, has been a proper scum since he was a child?
Dropped out of school at the age of 15 and started at £5
Can't do elementary school math
Born in the House of the Lord Chancellor, Branson not only had extremely poor academic performance, but also scored very low on IQ tests.
His teacher wrote in his final report: "He did his best, but he still faced great difficulties in understanding simple mathematical operations. ”
Branson himself said that until he was 50, he did not understand the difference between net profit and gross profit.
Branson's family is well-off. When he married at the age of 22, his parents gave him a Bentley as a congratulatory gift
But not being able to figure out the numbers didn't stop Branson from being born with a business mind. He says he prefers to do things with preferences and passions than business analysis.
"I'm on a whim most of the time. This kind of inspiration can sometimes be very right, and sometimes it can be outrageously wrong. But when you gain enough experience, your sixth sense becomes accurate. Branson said.
At the age of 15, Branson was influenced by leftist ideas among his classmates and planned to run a youth magazine promoting the anti-Vietnam War.
He asked his mother for £4 for start-up money and started work in the basement of a friend's parents' house. The principal was very unhappy when he found out, and felt that this boy was not doing his job properly, and his grades were poor and he was engaged in seven or eight.
"If you insist on running a publication, get out of school." The headmaster warned Branson.
"I thought about it for a while, and I thought there was nothing to be nostalgic about at school, so I left." Branson said.
Later, the magazine sold 100,000 copies, and there were already 20 employees.
Branson still has the magazine he ran in his early years
Although running a magazine did not make Branson a lot of money, when he interviewed the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, he realized another business opportunity - recording records.
It was the '60s when rock 'n' roll was rife, and 21-year-old Branson bought a mansion for £30,000 to make a recording studio through bank loans and family funding, and founded Virgin Records.
He signed Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, and Phil Collins, and soon made Virgin Records the largest independent label of the time.
With a lot of money on hand, Branson immediately began to do something new: because the service of the airline was not good, the hot phone could never be called, and Branson planned to open his own airline.
He bought a used airplane and named the brand "Virgin." Although Virgin has always officially declared that "virgin" symbolizes the prototype of the Virgin Empire, Branson himself said that the name "virgin" is completely erotic and easy to remember.
At the time, Branson was only 22 years old.
▲ A variety of Virgin route logos
Since then, Branson has expanded the Virgin brand to various industries including communications, finance, rail, entertainment, tourism, department stores, and food.
Because he said that he was a person who could not stand backwardness and boredom. Once you find that the service of a certain industry is too poor, you will want to replace them to improve the level.
Virgin employs 70,000 people in 35 countries. Branson said that he wants to be a person's life can use only virgin brand
Not only that, but Virgin also has a number of high-quality properties around the world. These properties are not necessarily the most luxurious, but they are necessarily the most fun.
For example, the Kasbah Tamadot Hotel in Morocco;
Son Bunyola, a holiday home on the Spanish island of Mallorca;
Camp Mahali Mzuri at Kenya Safari Park;
Camp Ulusaba, a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa;
Makepeace Island in Australia;
And, a roof garden on Kensington High Street in London.
If you want to make money from real estate, you should build cheap houses for new immigrants in bulk, like Trump's father. And from Branson's choice of property, we can also see his consistent stance - fun, fun.
It is better to lose violently than to stop small wealth and peace
To be able to get to this day, branson certainly has his own superiority.
First of all, Branson is very disciplined.
From adolescence, it is never late. He ran 15 blocks in Manhattan and on the Westminster Bridge, all because he didn't want to be late because of the traffic jam.
Before each expedition, Branson prepares everything, exercises rigorously, charts the best route, and finds the best partner.
Even though he lives on the island, he still gets up at 5 o'clock every day to start working.
Second, Branson is good at personifying brands.
This stems from his love of business, sun-type charisma, and marketing in writing and speaking.
Branson, who had dyslexia as a child, grew up to be a diligent and prolific writer. A whole bunch of books were published at a rate of two years, and they sold well.
He has long understood the way of content marketing, knows the power of KOLs and mobilizes young people, and builds himself into IP, establishes and users' emotions, to put it bluntly, today's Internet thinking.
▲ At the ceremony of opening a new route, Branson showed off his underwear, which means "firm" to the end
Most importantly, Branson is an idealistic person.
When the Gulf War broke out, he dismantled his plane, delivered supplies to refugees, and went to Baghdad to save hostages.
He's a fan of Mandela because—
"Only such a person who is willing to give selflessly to the cause of mankind can be regarded as an idol."
Branson hasn't always had it all the time, though.
For example, last year, the aviation industry was hit hard by the epidemic, and in order to raise money to keep Virgin, Branson mortgaged his private island, Necker Island. The island, mortgaged by Branson, is located in the Caribbean Sea and is valued at about $100 million.
▲ Necker Island is located in the east of Puerto Rico, not far from Cuba and Florida, but I don't know why it belongs to British jurisdiction
Necker Island was leaked by Branson in 1978 for £180,000 from a viscount eager to liquidate. For the past 15 years, it has been Branson's main residence.
From power generation to drainage to garbage disposal, he spent tens of millions of dollars to turn an uninhabited island into a resort.
The island has white coral sand beaches, turtles laying their eggs, pelicans lining up to fish, and black parrots inhabit the island's rainforest.
The island was destroyed twice by fire and hurricane, and Branson rebuilt the island twice, properly in true love.
Last year, Branson mortgaged his beloved island and calculated to borrow $600 million from the government.
Some lawmakers ridiculed him - "The rich should subsidize enterprises out of their own pockets, and it is an absolute shame that the government wants assistance." ”
Branson's answer was methodical, he said—
Personal property is extrapolated based on the value of the stock, not that there is real money available on the account at any time. I don't have cash flow in my hands that I can turn the tide.
You see, for the sake of his beloved cause, he can pay more than the average person thinks.
Maverick, unruly, insane, whimsical, unable to live without adventures and challenges, this is Branson.
He would rather be defeated violently than stop being rich and peaceful.
As early as 10 years ago, when Branson's space program was still PPT, he dared to sell future space day trips around the world.
Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks had all bought him ferry tickets, and even Hawking was his client. Although, Branson blew himself up and couldn't understand "A Brief History of Time".
At that time, everyone only thought that Branson was engaged in gimmick marketing himself, who expected that people really did this thing.
You have to say that this guy is not stingy, people have the title of queen, is a real "Sir".
Isn't that a top inspirational thing?
In this increasingly boring world, it is very interesting to have people like Branson.
This reminds Yu Yanjie of the year when Branson wrote a letter to his 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son before he crossed the Atlantic in a hot air balloon.
Many people think that my adventure is extremely stupid, but you all know that I long for life to the extreme.
I think with my adventure experience, I can overcome the difficulties I will face.
But if it turns out that I was wrong, I have no regrets in my life except that I can't grow up with you.
▲ Branson's son grew up and went to the sea with his father
The pictures in this article are from the internet
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