Guest Shark Biography

Richard Branson is a serial entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.

He founded the Virgin Group, which has created more than 400 companies spanning travel, financial services, telecom, health & wellness, and more recently, space travel.

At the age of sixteen his first business venture was a magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. In 1971, he opened the first of a chain of Virgin record stores, later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In 1999, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for "services to entrepreneurship."

For his work in retail, music and transport (with interests in land, air, sea and space travel), his taste for adventure and for his humanitarian work, he became one of the most prominent figures in British culture. In 2002, he was named in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. In January 2016, Forbes listed Branson's estimated net worth at $5.2 billion.

Follow Branson on Twitter @richardbranson