Richard Branson - Finding My Virginity: The New Autobiography

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Copyright 2017 by Richard Branson

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ISBN 9780735219427 (hardcover)

ISBN 9780735219434 (ebook)

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Dedicated to my parents, Ted and Eve, who made me who I am. To my sisters Lindy and Vanessa, who have always been there for me. To my wife, Joan, who makes every day an adventure. To my children, Holly and Sam, who dream of an even brighter future. And to my grandchildren, Etta, Artie, Eva-Deia and Bluey, who make me want to turn our dreams into reality.

A special thank you to Greg Rose for helping me pull this project together. Greg has spent years getting to know my life, my mind (and my tennis serve!) and searched through countless unburnt notebooks and memories for us to bring this book to life.

CONTENTS

Prologue

You can only lose your virginity once. But in every aspect of my lifebuilding businesses, raising my family, embarking upon adventuresI try to do things for the first time every day.

When I first published Losing My Virginity, in 1998, I wasnt at all prepared for the reaction. I expected the business community, some newspaper reviewers and a few autobiography readers to pick it up, but before I knew it the book had taken off. Losing My Virginity is still the most common object handed to me (except a mobile for a selfie), usually by a person with a pen and a smile. I have written short updates to my autobiography over the years, but so much has happened in the past two decades that I realized I needed to write a sequel.

I was pondering the right time to do this when I came across my old notes for Student magazines launch in the archive. I rubbed the dust away to double-check the datethe notes really were from 1967. What better way to mark fifty years since I started out in business than by sharing everything that has happened and all I have learned over the decades? This book highlights incidents from my early days, but it concentrates on the past twenty years, the time I have been Finding My Virginity all over again.

Finding My Virginity kicks on from where Losing My Virginity left off, at the dawn of the new millennium. By 1999 people thought we had done everything and there was nowhere else left for us to expand, no new challenges for me to embark upon. But being involved in running a company like Virgin is never a question of sitting back, its about constant reinvention as the world changes, and as do I. This is the story of the last two decades, told through one of the most dynamic brands in the world. My home has moved from a houseboat to a paradise island, while my company has grown from a UK business to a global brand. My dream of flying private citizens to space has gone from a childhood fantasy to the brink of reality, and my focus has shifted from battling bigger rivals to changing business for good. In this time Ive experienced joy, heartbreak, hurricanes, business (and other) highs, grief, records, doubt and my toughest ever crisis. Its been a rollercoaster ride and I have no intention of getting off any time soon.

Fifteen years after Losing My Virginitys publication, Zach Galifinakis asked me: Is your book a play on the name of your company, or the first time you had sex? Both, I answered. This time around, I considered giving my book an even more risqu title. That it was factually accurate only made it more tempting. My alternative name for the book you are reading? Losing My Virginity: The Second Entry. I also considered Virginity Lost, a nod to the title of John Miltons epic Paradise Lost, but it felt too negative. I view life as one big adventure; Im always learning, and finding new things to try and challenges to overcome. Im still Finding My Virginity every day. But now that I am a grand-dude to four wonderful grandchildrenEtta, Artie, Eva-Deia and BlueyI look at my life in a new way.

Whether you are running a company or simply living your life, hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and put a smile on your face along the way. A reviewer described Losing My Virginity as the first autobiography in which the author had written an expos of himself. I hope Finding My Virginity will be similar. If your life is one long success story it wont make for a good read. Whats more, youre most likely a liar. We all have ups and downs, trials and tribulations, failures and triumphs: we just hope to come out stronger on the other side.

The late Steve Jobs, the entrepreneur I most admire, said: My favorite things in life dont cost any money. Its really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. That thought has been on my mind as I write this book, thinking back to all the good times and tough times behind me, and looking forward with wonder at what lies ahead. Ive always lived every day as if its my last, fiercely loving my family and friends and trying to make a positive difference. We only get one life, and this is mine.

I hope you enjoy finding out how I did it for the first timeall over again.