Losing My Virginity summary

Failing to achieve academic recognition in university – due partly to his independent attitude, and partly to his dyslexia – Branson began looking for alternative occupations.

He and fellow student Jonny Gems founded the magazine, Student. Initially intended as an outlet for criticisms of their school, it quickly turned into a celebration of pop student culture and contemporary issues.

Due to his insight in the music scene, Branson realized people were very excited about records, and noticed their distribution via record shops went unrivalled. Simply because there was no alternative, people who’d never spend 40 shillings on a meal would gladly pay that same amount for a new Beatles record at a large record store.

But Branson had an alternative in mind. He saw that a mail-order system would be popular with people his own age, who’d prefer to order records by mail at a lower price, than at retail price at a big store like WH Smiths.

In 1971, the record departments of large retail stores were dominated by a bland interior and almost zero excitement for what was going on in rock music.

When the postal strike occurred, Virgin was impelled to set up their own record store. They wanted it to be an extension of what they’d established with Student: a place where customers were not merely encouraged to buy a record and leave, but a welcoming place where they could exchange views on their interests.

Soon, Branson figured out that there were even greater profits to be made in running a recording studio and record label.

He also noticed that most studios did business in a very formal way. They operated with strictly appointed time slots, overbooked rooms and few musical instruments. Such formality was too strict for the wild and spirited pop and rock culture that had begun in the 1960s.

In 1976, Virgin was headed towards trouble: aside from Mike Oldfield, all of the label’s acts had lost it money.

But the mid-1970s was the high point of punk in the UK, and Virgin was desperate to sign one of the new bands.

In 1978, Branson was in New York, as he wanted to be close to Joan, his future wife, who was in the process of splitting up with her husband in New York. After the divorce was finalized, Branson was asked whether he had named his company after the Virgin Islands. Although that wasn’t the case, it certainly seemed like the perfect getaway for the pair.

He had heard that if one expressed genuine interest in purchasing an island, a local estate agent would put you up in a villa and provide a helicopter to fly around the islands.

Although having signed the Sex Pistols and several young New Wave bands got Virgin into new musical territory, it proved far from profitable. In 1980, Virgin Music was running at a £900,000 loss.

Still, Branson gave the go ahead to keep signing new artists, such as Simple Minds, The Human League and Phil Collins, much to the dismay of the financial director who saw that Virgin was spending money it didn’t have on artists that weren’t known yet.

Having toyed with the name Virgin Airways in the late 70s, Branson was already keen on the idea of opening an airline. So in 1984, when a US lawyer named Randolph Fields called to inquire whether Branson would be interested in operating a transatlantic airline, he was ready for the challenge.

His senior management opposed the idea, however Branson remained adamant, arguing that if they could lease just one airplane for one year, they would limit the amount of money they could lose, and could retreat from the project if it became unsuccessful.

In 1984, Ted Toleman was seeking a sponsor to cover the cost of a catamaran he was building to cross the Atlantic Ocean at a new record speed to recapture the Blue Riband Trophy for Britain. Branson was keen to sponsor, realising that being involved in a world-record Atlantic crossing would serve to attract attention to his transatlantic airline.

With round-the-world yachtsman Chay Blyth already on the team, Toleman and Branson started in New York and set off for England to beat the current record, which had been set at three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes.

In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. This left the world in a tailspin and doubled the price of aviation fuel, from 75 cents to $1.50 a gallon.

As Branson was about to take his children to school, his phone rang. It was Queen Noor of Jordan, whom Branson had met and befriended during one of his earlier adventures.

Crossing the Pacific by hot-air balloon was an attractive challenge to Branson. He had attempted it once before, with Per Lindstrand in 1989, but their balloon fell apart just before lift off.

In January 1990, they met in Japan for a second attempt to cross the Pacific, by flying a hot-air balloon into the 200 MPH jet stream. Their goal was to arrive in California within two days and thereby secure the world record for fastest speed, and for being the first to cross the Pacific in a balloon.

In the 1990s, Branson was enjoying unrivalled success, but his success in the aviation industry wasn’t greatly appreciated by British Airways – the traditional British carrier – who started several campaigns to put him out of business. They had even put together a team whose sole purpose was to undermine Branson and Co.

Not only did BA contact Virgin customers, offering them cheaper flights, claiming that Virgin’s flights were overbooked or cancelled, but they also hacked into the Virgin database to gain access to their booking information. Additionally, they contracted several private detectives and public relations representatives to investigate Branson, his family and his company, in order to discredit his image.