Summary
Last fortnight when Richard Branson, 54, the flamboyant Chairman of the estimated $8 billion-plus (Rs 35,200 crore-plus) Virgin Group, was seen around Mumbai lifting women in the air, riding the local train with the ubiquitous dabbawallas and attempting a go at the Queen's game, the average Mumbaikar might have wondered: "Who is this weirdo?" Those familiar with Branson's antics, however, might have just nodded their head as if to say: "He's at it again." After all, he's the man who successfully launched the punk rock group Sex Pistols in the late 1970s at a time when no other record company was willing to touch them (perhaps because they wrote lyrics like "God save the queen, she ain't no human being"); who successfully got arrested twice in his career; and who recently got his jollies by sitting through a hurricane that hit Necker Island (Branson's private Virgin Island). "An awesome experience", is how he is reported to have described it. In this interview with BT's Brian Carvalho, Branson talked about other less dangerous-not by much, though-challenges he's faced over the past four decades during which he built the Virgin Group into a billion-dollar empire, with over 200 diverse businesses. Excerpts:
You have over 200 businesses on your plate. How do you keep track of them?See the full content of this document
Extract
'Reputation Is All We've Got'
We have grown from scratch into 200-250 businesses around the world. I should think the top 10 businesses would be contributing 50 per cent of our revenue, but these may be within as many as 100 different companies. As I grow a business, I find a managing director, give him a stake in the company, and tell him he can run it as if it's his own company. I will tell him that I will interfere as little as possible; if he needs my help, he can call me up, but I try to give him the freedom to make mistakes and make good things. We have a small central team of people-very small-that can help on things like global tax issues or brand iss...
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