ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard Branson - Entrepreneur
Richard Branson bootstrapped his way from record-shop owner to head of the Virgin empire. Now he's focusing his boundless energy on saving our environment.

Why you should listen

He's ballooned across the Atlantic, floated down the Thames with the Sex Pistols, and been knighted by the Queen. His megabrand, Virgin, is home to more than 250 companies, from gyms, gambling houses and bridal boutiques to fleets of planes, trains and limousines. The man even owns his own island.

And now Richard Branson is moving onward and upward into space (tourism): Virgin Galactic's Philippe Starck-designed, The first Burt Rutan-engineered spacecraft, The Enterprise, completed its first captive carry in early 2010 and is slated to start carrying passengers into the thermosphere in 2012, at $200,000 a ticket.

Branson also has a philanthropic streak. He's pledged the next 10 years of profits from his transportation empire (an amount expected to reach $3 billion) to the development of renewable alternatives to carbon fuels. And then there's his Virgin Earth Challenge, which offers a $25 million prize to the first person to come up with an economically viable solution to the greenhouse gas problem.

More profile about the speaker
Richard Branson | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Richard Branson: Life at 30,000 feet

Filmed:
1,891,168 views

Richard Branson talks to TED's Chris Anderson about the ups and the downs of his career, from his multibillionaire success to his multiple near-death experiences -- and reveals some of his (very surprising) motivations.
- Entrepreneur
Richard Branson bootstrapped his way from record-shop owner to head of the Virgin empire. Now he's focusing his boundless energy on saving our environment. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
Chris Anderson: Welcome to TED.
0
0
1000
00:26
Richard Branson: Thank you very much. The first TED has been great.
1
1000
4000
00:30
CA: Have you met anyone interesting?
2
5000
2000
00:32
RB: Well, the nice thing about TED is everybody's interesting.
3
7000
3000
00:35
I was very glad to see Goldie Hawn,
4
10000
2000
00:37
because I had an apology to make to her.
5
12000
3000
00:40
I'd had dinner with her about two years ago and I'd --
6
15000
5000
00:45
she had this big wedding ring and I put it on my finger and I couldn't get it off.
7
20000
4000
00:50
And I went home to my wife that night
8
25000
3000
00:53
and she wanted to know why I had another woman's big,
9
28000
2000
00:55
massive, big wedding ring on my finger.
10
30000
3000
00:58
And, anyway, the next morning we had to go along to the jeweler
11
33000
2000
01:00
and get it cut off.
12
35000
2000
01:02
So -- (Laughter) --
13
37000
4000
01:06
so apologies to Goldie.
14
41000
1000
01:07
CA: That's pretty good.
15
42000
2000
01:09
So, we're going to put up some slides
16
44000
3000
01:12
of some of your companies here.
17
47000
2000
01:14
You've started one or two in your time.
18
49000
3000
01:17
So, you know, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Records --
19
52000
3000
01:20
I guess it all started with a magazine called Student.
20
55000
3000
01:23
And then, yes, all these other ones as well. I mean, how do you do this?
21
58000
5000
01:29
RB: I read all these sort of TED instructions:
22
64000
3000
01:32
you must not talk about your own business, and this,
23
67000
2000
01:34
and now you ask me.
24
69000
1000
01:35
So I suppose you're not going to be able to kick me off the stage,
25
70000
2000
01:37
since you asked the question.
26
72000
2000
01:39
(Laughter)
27
74000
1000
01:40
CA: It depends what the answer is though.
28
75000
2000
01:43
RB: No, I mean, I think I learned early on that if you can run one company,
29
78000
6000
01:49
you can really run any companies.
30
84000
1000
01:50
I mean, companies are all about finding the right people,
31
85000
4000
01:54
inspiring those people, you know, drawing out the best in people.
32
89000
6000
02:00
And I just love learning and I'm incredibly inquisitive
33
95000
5000
02:05
and I love taking on, you know, the status quo
34
100000
4000
02:09
and trying to turn it upside down.
35
104000
2000
02:11
So I've seen life as one long learning process.
36
106000
4000
02:15
And if I see -- you know, if I fly on somebody else's airline
37
110000
4000
02:19
and find the experience is not a pleasant one, which it wasn't,
38
114000
4000
02:23
21 years ago, then I'd think, well, you know, maybe I can create
39
118000
4000
02:27
the kind of airline that I'd like to fly on.
40
122000
3000
02:30
And so, you know, so got one secondhand 747 from Boeing and gave it a go.
41
125000
6000
02:36
CA: Well, that was a bizarre thing,
42
131000
1000
02:37
because you made this move that a lot of people advised you was crazy.
43
132000
5000
02:42
And in fact, in a way, it almost took down your empire at one point.
44
137000
5000
02:47
I had a conversation with one of the investment bankers who,
45
142000
3000
02:50
at the time when you basically sold Virgin Records
46
145000
4000
02:54
and invested heavily in Virgin Atlantic,
47
149000
2000
02:56
and his view was that you were trading, you know,
48
151000
3000
02:59
the world's fourth biggest record company
49
154000
2000
03:01
for the twenty-fifth biggest airline and that you were out of your mind.
50
156000
4000
03:05
Why did you do that?
51
160000
2000
03:07
RB: Well, I think that there's a very thin dividing line between success and failure.
52
162000
6000
03:13
And I think if you start a business without financial backing,
53
168000
4000
03:17
you're likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line.
54
172000
3000
03:20
We had -- we were being attacked by British Airways.
55
175000
7000
03:27
They were trying to put our airline out of business,
56
182000
3000
03:30
and they launched what's become known as the dirty tricks campaign.
57
185000
4000
03:35
And I realized that the whole empire was likely to come crashing down
58
190000
5000
03:40
unless I chipped in a chip.
59
195000
2000
03:42
And in order to protect the jobs of the people who worked for the airline,
60
197000
4000
03:46
and protect the jobs of the people who worked for the record company,
61
201000
4000
03:50
I had to sell the family jewelry to protect the airline.
62
205000
6000
03:56
CA: Post-Napster, you're looking like a bit of a genius, actually,
63
211000
3000
03:59
for that as well.
64
214000
1000
04:00
RB: Yeah, as it turned out, it proved to be the right move.
65
215000
6000
04:06
But, yeah, it was sad at the time, but we moved on.
66
221000
6000
04:12
CA: Now, you use the Virgin brand a lot
67
227000
2000
04:14
and it seems like you're getting synergy from one thing to the other.
68
229000
3000
04:17
What does the brand stand for in your head?
69
232000
3000
04:20
RB: Well, I like to think it stands for quality,
70
235000
2000
04:22
that you know, if somebody comes across a Virgin company, they --
71
237000
4000
04:26
CA: They are quality, Richard. Come on now, everyone says quality. Spirit?
72
241000
2000
04:28
RB: No, but I was going to move on this.
73
243000
2000
04:30
We have a lot of fun and I think the people who work for it enjoy it.
74
245000
6000
04:36
As I say, we go in and shake up other industries,
75
251000
3000
04:39
and I think, you know, we do it differently
76
254000
4000
04:43
and I think that industries are not quite the same
77
258000
2000
04:45
as a result of Virgin attacking the market.
78
260000
2000
04:47
CA: I mean, there are a few launches you've done
79
262000
3000
04:50
where the brand maybe hasn't worked quite as well.
80
265000
2000
04:52
I mean, Virgin Brides -- what happened there?
81
267000
3000
04:55
(Laughter)
82
270000
2000
04:57
RB: We couldn't find any customers.
83
272000
2000
04:59
(Laughter)
84
274000
3000
05:02
(Applause)
85
277000
1000
05:03
CA: I was actually also curious why --
86
278000
2000
05:05
I think you missed an opportunity with your condoms launch. You called it Mates.
87
280000
3000
05:08
I mean, couldn't you have used the Virgin brand for that as well?
88
283000
4000
05:12
Ain't virgin no longer, or something.
89
287000
3000
05:15
RB: Again, we may have had problems finding customers.
90
290000
2000
05:17
I mean, we had -- often, when you launch a company and you get customer complaints,
91
292000
6000
05:23
you know, you can deal with them.
92
298000
2000
05:25
But about three months after the launch of the condom company,
93
300000
2000
05:27
I had a letter, a complaint,
94
302000
3000
05:30
and I sat down and wrote a long letter back to this lady apologizing profusely.
95
305000
4000
05:34
But obviously, there wasn't a lot I could do about it.
96
309000
2000
05:37
And then six months later, or nine months after the problem had taken,
97
312000
6000
05:43
I got this delightful letter with a picture of the baby
98
318000
3000
05:46
asking if I'd be godfather, which I became.
99
321000
5000
05:51
So, it all worked out well.
100
326000
2000
05:53
CA: Really? You should have brought a picture. That's wonderful.
101
328000
3000
05:56
RB: I should have.
102
331000
1000
05:57
CA: So, just help us with some of the numbers.
103
332000
2000
05:59
I mean, what are the numbers on this?
104
334000
2000
06:01
I mean, how big is the group overall?
105
336000
2000
06:03
How much -- what's the total revenue?
106
338000
2000
06:05
RB: It's about 25 billion dollars now, in total.
107
340000
3000
06:08
CA: And how many employees?
108
343000
1000
06:09
RB: About 55,000.
109
344000
3000
06:12
CA: So, you've been photographed in various ways at various times
110
347000
4000
06:16
and never worrying about putting your dignity on the line or anything like that.
111
351000
8000
06:24
What was that? Was that real?
112
359000
4000
06:28
RB: Yeah. We were launching a megastore in Los Angeles, I think.
113
363000
3000
06:31
No, I mean, I think --
114
366000
1000
06:32
CA: But is that your hair?
115
367000
1000
06:33
RB: No.
116
368000
1000
06:37
CA: What was that one?
117
372000
2000
06:39
RB: Dropping in for tea.
118
374000
1000
06:40
CA: OK.
119
375000
1000
06:41
(Laughter)
120
376000
3000
06:44
RB: Ah, that was quite fun. That was a wonderful car-boat in which --
121
379000
3000
06:47
CA: Oh, that car that we -- actually we --
122
382000
2000
06:49
it was a TEDster event there, I think.
123
384000
3000
06:52
Is that -- could you still pause on that one actually, for a minute?
124
387000
2000
06:54
(Laughter)
125
389000
1000
06:55
RB: It's a tough job, isn't it?
126
390000
1000
06:56
CA: I mean, it is a tough job.
127
391000
2000
06:58
(Laughter)
128
393000
1000
06:59
When I first came to America, I used to try this with employees as well
129
394000
4000
07:03
and they kind of -- they have these different rules over here,
130
398000
2000
07:05
it's very strange.
131
400000
1000
07:06
RB: I know, I have -- the lawyers say you mustn't do things like that, but --
132
401000
5000
07:11
CA: I mean, speaking of which, tell us about --
133
406000
1000
07:12
RB: "Pammy" we launched, you know --
134
407000
2000
07:14
mistakenly thought we could take on Coca-Cola,
135
409000
2000
07:16
and we launched a cola bottle called "The Pammy"
136
411000
5000
07:21
and it was shaped a bit like Pamela Anderson.
137
416000
3000
07:24
But the trouble is, it kept on tipping over, but --
138
419000
3000
07:27
(Laughter)
139
422000
3000
07:30
CA: Designed by Philippe Starck perhaps?
140
425000
2000
07:32
RB: Of course.
141
427000
1000
07:34
CA: So, we'll just run a couple more pictures here. Virgin Brides. Very nice.
142
429000
5000
07:39
And, OK, so stop there. This was -- you had some award I think?
143
434000
6000
07:46
RB: Yeah, well, 25 years earlier, we'd launched the Sex Pistols'
144
441000
5000
07:51
"God Save The Queen," and I'd certainly never expected
145
446000
3000
07:54
that 25 years later -- that she'd actually knight us.
146
449000
3000
07:57
But somehow, she must have had a forgetful memory, I think.
147
452000
4000
08:01
CA: Well, God saved her and you got your just reward.
148
456000
3000
08:04
Do you like to be called Sir Richard, or how?
149
459000
3000
08:07
RB: Nobody's ever called me Sir Richard.
150
462000
2000
08:09
Occasionally in America, I hear people saying Sir Richard
151
464000
3000
08:12
and think there's some Shakespearean play taking place.
152
467000
4000
08:16
But nowhere else anyway.
153
471000
3000
08:20
CA: OK. So can you use your knighthood for anything or is it just ...
154
475000
4000
08:25
RB: No. I suppose if you're having problems
155
480000
4000
08:29
getting a booking in a restaurant or something,
156
484000
2000
08:31
that might be worth using it.
157
486000
1000
08:32
CA: You know, it's not Richard Branson. It's Sir Richard Branson.
158
487000
4000
08:37
RB: I'll go get the secretary to use it.
159
492000
3000
08:40
CA: OK. So let's look at the space thing.
160
495000
3000
08:43
I think, with us, we've got a video that shows what you're up to,
161
498000
4000
08:47
and Virgin Galactic up in the air. (Video)
162
502000
3000
08:54
So that's the Bert Rutan designed spaceship?
163
509000
3000
08:57
RB: Yeah, it'll be ready in -- well, ready in 12 months
164
512000
5000
09:02
and then we do 12 months extensive testing.
165
517000
3000
09:05
And then 24 months from now,
166
520000
2000
09:07
people will be able to take a ride into space.
167
522000
5000
09:14
CA: So this interior is Philippe Starcke designed?
168
529000
3000
09:17
RB: Philippe has done the -- yeah, quite a bit of it:
169
532000
5000
09:22
the logos and he's building the space station in New Mexico.
170
537000
5000
09:27
And basically, he's just taken an eye
171
542000
3000
09:30
and the space station will be one giant eye,
172
545000
5000
09:35
so when you're in space,
173
550000
2000
09:37
you ought to be able to see this massive eye looking up at you.
174
552000
3000
09:40
And when you land, you'll be able to go back into this giant eye.
175
555000
6000
09:46
But he's an absolute genius when it comes to design.
176
561000
4000
09:50
CA: But you didn't have him design the engine?
177
565000
3000
09:53
RB: Philippe is quite erratic,
178
568000
2000
09:55
so I think that he wouldn't be the best person to design the engine, no.
179
570000
4000
09:59
CA: He gave a wonderful talk here two days ago.
180
574000
2000
10:01
RB: Yeah? No, he is a --
181
576000
1000
10:02
CA: Well, some people found it wonderful,
182
577000
2000
10:04
some people found it completely bizarre.
183
579000
2000
10:06
But, I personally found it wonderful.
184
581000
2000
10:08
RB: He's a wonderful enthusiast, which is why I love him. But ...
185
583000
5000
10:14
CA: So, now, you've always had this exploration bug in you.
186
589000
5000
10:20
Have you ever regretted that?
187
595000
2000
10:22
RB: Many times.
188
597000
1000
10:23
I mean, I think with the ballooning and boating expeditions we've done in the past.
189
598000
7000
10:30
Well, I got pulled out of the sea I think six times by helicopters, so --
190
605000
4000
10:34
and each time, I didn't expect to come home to tell the tale.
191
609000
4000
10:38
So in those moments,
192
613000
2000
10:40
you certainly wonder what you're doing up there or --
193
615000
3000
10:43
CA: What was the closest you got to --
194
618000
2000
10:45
when did you think, this is it, I might be on my way out?
195
620000
4000
10:49
RB: Well, I think the balloon adventures were -- each one was,
196
624000
5000
10:54
each one, actually, I think we came close.
197
629000
3000
10:57
And, I mean, first of all we --
198
632000
3000
11:00
nobody had actually crossed the Atlantic in a hot air balloon before,
199
635000
4000
11:04
so we had to build a hot air balloon that was capable of flying in the jet stream,
200
639000
7000
11:11
and we weren't quite sure,
201
646000
2000
11:13
when a balloon actually got into the jet stream,
202
648000
2000
11:15
whether it would actually survive the 200, 220 miles an hour winds that you can find up there.
203
650000
6000
11:21
And so, just the initial lift off from Sugarloaf to cross the Atlantic,
204
656000
6000
11:27
as we were pushing into the jet stream, this enormous balloon --
205
662000
3000
11:30
the top of the balloon ended up going at a couple of hundred miles an hour,
206
665000
5000
11:35
the capsule that we were in at the bottom was going at maybe two miles an hour,
207
670000
4000
11:39
and it just took off.
208
674000
2000
11:41
And it was like holding onto a thousand horses.
209
676000
4000
11:45
And we were just crossing every finger,
210
680000
3000
11:48
praying that the balloon would hold together, which, fortunately, it did.
211
683000
5000
11:54
But the ends of all those balloon trips were, you know --
212
689000
5000
11:59
something seemed to go wrong every time,
213
694000
2000
12:01
and on that particular occasion, the more experienced balloonist who was with me
214
696000
6000
12:07
jumped, and left me holding on for dear life.
215
702000
5000
12:12
(Laughter)
216
707000
3000
12:15
CA: Did he tell you to jump, or he just said, "I'm out of here!" and ...
217
710000
3000
12:18
RB: No, he told me jump, but once his weight had gone,
218
713000
4000
12:22
the balloon just shot up to 12,000 feet and I ...
219
717000
6000
12:28
CA: And you inspired an Ian McEwan novel I think with that.
220
723000
3000
12:31
RB: Yeah. No, I put on my oxygen mask and stood on top of the balloon,
221
726000
4000
12:35
with my parachute, looking at the swirling clouds below,
222
730000
3000
12:38
trying to pluck up my courage to jump into the North Sea, which --
223
733000
5000
12:43
and it was a very, very, very lonely few moments.
224
738000
2000
12:45
But, anyway, we managed to survive it.
225
740000
2000
12:47
CA: Did you jump? Or it came down in the end?
226
742000
2000
12:49
RB: Well, I knew I had about half an hour's fuel left,
227
744000
6000
12:55
and I also knew that the chances were that if I jumped,
228
750000
4000
12:59
I would only have a couple of minutes of life left.
229
754000
3000
13:02
So I climbed back into the capsule and just desperately tried
230
757000
4000
13:06
to make sure that I was making the right decision.
231
761000
3000
13:09
And wrote some notes to my family. And then climbed back up again,
232
764000
4000
13:13
looked down at those clouds again,
233
768000
1000
13:14
climbed back into the capsule again.
234
769000
2000
13:16
And then finally, just thought, there's a better way.
235
771000
3000
13:19
I've got, you know, this enormous balloon above me,
236
774000
3000
13:22
it's the biggest parachute ever, why not use it?
237
777000
5000
13:27
And so I managed to fly the balloon down through the clouds,
238
782000
4000
13:32
and about 50 feet, before I hit the sea, threw myself over.
239
787000
4000
13:36
And the balloon hit the sea
240
791000
2000
13:38
and went shooting back up to 10,000 feet without me.
241
793000
4000
13:42
But it was a wonderful feeling being in that water and --
242
797000
3000
13:45
CA: What did you write to your family?
243
800000
3000
13:48
RB: Just what you would do in a situation like that:
244
803000
4000
13:52
just I love you very much. And
245
807000
3000
13:55
I'd already written them a letter before going on this trip, which --
246
810000
5000
14:00
just in case anything had happened.
247
815000
2000
14:02
But fortunately, they never had to use it.
248
817000
5000
14:07
CA: Your companies have had incredible PR value out of these heroics.
249
822000
6000
14:14
The years -- and until I stopped looking at the polls,
250
829000
5000
14:19
you were sort of regarded as this great hero in the U.K. and elsewhere.
251
834000
4000
14:23
And cynics might say, you know, this is just a smart business guy
252
838000
4000
14:27
doing what it takes to execute his particular style of marketing.
253
842000
5000
14:32
How much was the PR value part of this?
254
847000
5000
14:37
RB: Well, of course, the PR experts said that as an airline owner,
255
852000
7000
14:44
the last thing you should be doing is heading off in balloons and boats,
256
859000
5000
14:49
and crashing into the seas.
257
864000
3000
14:52
(Laughter)
258
867000
4000
14:56
CA: They have a point, Richard.
259
871000
2000
14:58
RB: In fact, I think our airline took a full page ad at the time saying,
260
873000
4000
15:02
you know, come on, Richard,
261
877000
2000
15:04
there are better ways of crossing the Atlantic.
262
879000
3000
15:07
(Laughter)
263
882000
1000
15:08
CA: To do all this,
264
883000
2000
15:10
you must have been a genius from the get-go, right?
265
885000
3000
15:14
RB: Well, I won't contradict that.
266
889000
3000
15:17
(Laughter)
267
892000
1000
15:18
CA: OK, this isn't exactly hardball. OK.
268
893000
4000
15:22
Didn't -- weren't you just terrible at school?
269
897000
4000
15:26
RB: I was dyslexic. I had no understanding of schoolwork whatsoever.
270
901000
8000
15:37
I certainly would have failed IQ tests.
271
912000
3000
15:40
And it was one of the reasons I left school when I was 15 years old.
272
915000
6000
15:47
And if I -- if I'm not interested in something, I don't grasp it.
273
922000
8000
15:55
As somebody who's dyslexic,
274
930000
1000
15:56
you also have some quite bizarre situations.
275
931000
2000
15:58
I mean, for instance, I've had to -- you know,
276
933000
5000
16:03
I've been running the largest group of private companies in Europe,
277
938000
3000
16:06
but haven't been able to know the difference between net and gross.
278
941000
3000
16:12
And so the board meetings have been fascinating.
279
947000
2000
16:15
(Laughter)
280
950000
1000
16:16
And so, it's like, good news or bad news?
281
951000
2000
16:18
And generally, the people would say, oh, well that's bad news.
282
953000
3000
16:21
CA: But just to clarify, the 25 billion dollars is gross, right? That's gross?
283
956000
3000
16:24
(Laughter)
284
959000
1000
16:25
RB: Well, I hope it's net actually, having --
285
960000
3000
16:28
(Laughter) --
286
963000
3000
16:31
I've got it right.
287
966000
2000
16:33
CA: No, trust me, it's gross.
288
968000
2000
16:35
(Laughter)
289
970000
3000
16:38
RB: So, when I turned 50, somebody took me outside the boardroom and said,
290
973000
4000
16:42
"Look Richard, here's a -- let me draw on a diagram.
291
977000
3000
16:45
Here's a net in the sea,
292
980000
2000
16:47
and the fish have been pulled from the sea into this net.
293
982000
4000
16:51
And that's the profits you've got left over in this little net,
294
986000
3000
16:54
everything else is eaten."
295
989000
2000
16:56
And I finally worked it all out.
296
991000
3000
16:59
(Laughter)
297
994000
1000
17:00
(Applause)
298
995000
2000
17:02
CA: But, I mean, at school -- so as well as being,
299
997000
3000
17:05
you know, doing pretty miserably academically,
300
1000000
2000
17:07
but you were also the captain of the cricket and football teams.
301
1002000
3000
17:10
So you were kind of a -- you were a natural leader,
302
1005000
2000
17:12
but just a bit of a ... Were you a rebel then, or how would you ...
303
1007000
4000
17:18
RB: Yeah, I think I was a bit of a maverick and -- but I ... And I was,
304
1013000
8000
17:26
yeah, I was fortunately good at sport,
305
1021000
2000
17:28
and so at least I had something to excel at, at school.
306
1023000
5000
17:33
CA: And some bizarre things happened just earlier in your life.
307
1028000
2000
17:35
I mean, there's the story about your mother
308
1030000
2000
17:37
allegedly dumping you in a field, aged four, and saying "OK, walk home."
309
1032000
5000
17:42
Did this really happen?
310
1037000
1000
17:43
RB: She was, you know,
311
1038000
2000
17:45
she felt that we needed to stand on our own two feet from an early age.
312
1040000
3000
17:48
So she did things to us, which now she'd be arrested for,
313
1043000
4000
17:52
such as pushing us out of the car,
314
1047000
4000
17:56
and telling us to find our own way to Granny's,
315
1051000
2000
17:58
about five miles before we actually got there.
316
1053000
4000
18:02
And making us go on wonderful, long bike rides.
317
1057000
3000
18:05
And we were never allowed to watch television and the like.
318
1060000
3000
18:08
CA: But is there a risk here?
319
1063000
1000
18:09
I mean, there's a lot of people in the room who are wealthy, and they've got kids,
320
1064000
3000
18:12
and we've got this dilemma about how you bring them up.
321
1067000
3000
18:15
Do you look at the current generation of kids coming up and think
322
1070000
3000
18:18
they're too coddled, they don't know what they've got,
323
1073000
2000
18:20
we're going to raise a generation of privileged ...
324
1075000
2000
18:22
RB: No, I think if you're bringing up kids,
325
1077000
3000
18:25
you just want to smother them with love and praise and enthusiasm.
326
1080000
7000
18:32
So I don't think you can mollycoddle your kids too much really.
327
1087000
6000
18:38
CA: You didn't turn out too bad, I have to say, I'm ...
328
1093000
3000
18:41
Your headmaster said to you --
329
1096000
2000
18:43
I mean he found you kind of an enigma at your school --
330
1098000
3000
18:46
he said, you're either going to be a millionaire or go to prison,
331
1101000
3000
18:49
and I'm not sure which.
332
1104000
2000
18:51
Which of those happened first?
333
1106000
3000
18:54
(Laughter)
334
1109000
1000
18:55
RB: Well, I've done both. I think I went to prison first.
335
1110000
4000
18:59
I was actually prosecuted under two quite ancient acts in the U.K.
336
1114000
6000
19:05
I was prosecuted under the 1889 Venereal Diseases Act
337
1120000
4000
19:09
and the 1916 Indecent Advertisements Act.
338
1124000
2000
19:11
On the first occasion, for mentioning the word venereal disease in public, which --
339
1126000
6000
19:17
we had a center where we would help young people who had problems.
340
1132000
4000
19:21
And one of the problems young people have is venereal disease.
341
1136000
3000
19:24
And there's an ancient law that says
342
1139000
1000
19:25
you can't actually mention the word venereal disease or print it in public.
343
1140000
4000
19:29
So the police knocked on the door, and told us they were going to arrest us
344
1144000
3000
19:32
if we carried on mentioning the word venereal disease.
345
1147000
2000
19:34
We changed it to social diseases
346
1149000
2000
19:36
and people came along with acne and spots,
347
1151000
2000
19:38
but nobody came with VD any more.
348
1153000
2000
19:40
So, we put it back to VD and promptly got arrested.
349
1155000
4000
19:44
And then subsequently, "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols,"
350
1159000
4000
19:48
the word bollocks, the police decided was a rude word and so we were arrested
351
1163000
7000
19:55
for using the word bollocks on the Sex Pistols' album.
352
1170000
3000
19:58
And John Mortimer, the playwright, defended us.
353
1173000
4000
20:02
And he asked if I could find a linguistics expert
354
1177000
5000
20:07
to come up with a different definition of the word bollocks.
355
1182000
4000
20:11
And so I rang up Nottingham University,
356
1186000
2000
20:13
and I asked to talk to the professor of linguistics.
357
1188000
2000
20:15
And he said, "Look, bollocks is not a -- has nothing to do with balls whatsoever.
358
1190000
5000
20:20
It's actually a nickname given to priests in the eighteenth century."
359
1195000
4000
20:24
(Laughter)
360
1199000
3000
20:27
And he went, "Furthermore, I'm a priest myself."
361
1202000
4000
20:31
And so I said, "Would you mind coming to the court?"
362
1206000
2000
20:33
And he said he'd be delighted. And I said --
363
1208000
2000
20:35
and he said, "Would you like me to wear my dog collar?"
364
1210000
2000
20:37
And I said, "Yes, definitely. Please."
365
1212000
2000
20:39
(Laughter)
366
1214000
2000
20:41
CA: That's great.
367
1216000
1000
20:42
RB: So our key witness argued that it was actually
368
1217000
2000
20:44
"Never Mind the Priest, Here's the Sex Pistols."
369
1219000
2000
20:46
(Laughter)
370
1221000
2000
20:48
And the judge found us -- reluctantly found us not guilty, so ...
371
1223000
2000
20:51
(Laughter)
372
1226000
1000
20:52
CA: That is outrageous.
373
1227000
2000
20:55
(Applause)
374
1230000
2000
20:57
So seriously, is there a dark side?
375
1232000
5000
21:02
A lot of people would say there's no way
376
1237000
2000
21:04
that someone could put together this incredible collection of businesses
377
1239000
3000
21:07
without knifing a few people in the back,
378
1242000
3000
21:10
you know, doing some ugly things.
379
1245000
2000
21:12
You've been accused of being ruthless.
380
1247000
2000
21:14
There was a nasty biography written about you by someone.
381
1249000
2000
21:16
Is any of it true? Is there an element of truth in it?
382
1251000
4000
21:20
RB: I don't actually think that the stereotype
383
1255000
3000
21:23
of a businessperson treading all over people to get to the top,
384
1258000
5000
21:28
generally speaking, works.
385
1263000
2000
21:30
I think if you treat people well,
386
1265000
2000
21:32
people will come back and come back for more.
387
1267000
5000
21:37
And I think all you have in life is your reputation
388
1272000
3000
21:40
and it's a very small world.
389
1275000
4000
21:45
And I actually think that the best way
390
1280000
4000
21:49
of becoming a successful business leader is dealing with people fairly and well,
391
1284000
7000
21:56
and I like to think that's how we run Virgin.
392
1291000
4000
22:01
CA: And what about the people who love you and who see you spending --
393
1296000
4000
22:05
you keep getting caught up in these new projects,
394
1300000
2000
22:07
but it almost feels like you're addicted to launching new stuff.
395
1302000
3000
22:10
You get excited by an idea and, kapow!
396
1305000
2000
22:12
I mean, do you think about life balance?
397
1307000
3000
22:15
How do your family feel about
398
1310000
2000
22:17
each time you step into something big and new?
399
1312000
2000
22:20
RB: I also believe that being a father's incredibly important,
400
1315000
4000
22:24
so from the time the kids were very young,
401
1319000
3000
22:27
you know, when they go on holiday, I go on holiday with them.
402
1322000
3000
22:31
And so we spend a very good sort of three months away together.
403
1326000
6000
22:37
Yes, I'll, you know, be in touch. We're very lucky,
404
1332000
3000
22:40
we have this tiny little island in the Caribbean and we can --
405
1335000
4000
22:44
so I can take them there and we can bring friends,
406
1339000
4000
22:48
and we can play together,
407
1343000
2000
22:50
but I can also keep in touch with what's going on.
408
1345000
4000
22:54
CA: You started talking in recent years
409
1349000
2000
22:56
about this term capitalist philanthropy.
410
1351000
2000
22:58
What is that?
411
1353000
2000
23:00
RB: Capitalism has been proven to be a system that works.
412
1355000
4000
23:04
You know, the alternative, communism, has not worked.
413
1359000
5000
23:09
But the problem with capitalism is
414
1364000
2000
23:11
extreme wealth ends up in the hands of a few people,
415
1366000
3000
23:14
and therefore extreme responsibility, I think, goes with that wealth.
416
1369000
5000
23:19
And I think it's important that the individuals,
417
1374000
4000
23:23
who are in that fortunate position, do not end up competing
418
1378000
5000
23:28
for bigger and bigger boats, and bigger and bigger cars,
419
1383000
2000
23:30
but, you know, use that money to either create new jobs
420
1385000
6000
23:36
or to tackle issues around the world.
421
1391000
3000
23:40
CA: And what are the issues that you worry about most, care most about,
422
1395000
3000
23:43
want to turn your resources toward?
423
1398000
3000
23:47
RB: Well, there's -- I mean there's a lot of issues.
424
1402000
3000
23:50
I mean global warming certainly is a massive threat to mankind
425
1405000
7000
23:57
and we are putting a lot of time and energy into,
426
1412000
4000
24:01
A, trying to come up with alternative fuels
427
1416000
4000
24:05
and, B, you know, we just launched this prize, which is really a prize
428
1420000
9000
24:14
in case we don't get an answer on alternative fuels,
429
1429000
4000
24:18
in case we don't actually manage to get the carbon emissions
430
1433000
3000
24:21
cut down quickly, and in case we go through the tipping point.
431
1436000
3000
24:24
We need to try to encourage people to come up with a way
432
1439000
4000
24:28
of extracting carbon out of the Earth's atmosphere.
433
1443000
3000
24:31
And we just -- you know, there weren't really people
434
1446000
3000
24:34
working on that before, so we wanted people to try to --
435
1449000
4000
24:38
all the best brains in the world to start thinking about that,
436
1453000
3000
24:41
and also to try to extract the methane
437
1456000
2000
24:43
out of the Earth's atmosphere as well.
438
1458000
3000
24:46
And actually, we've had about 15,000 people fill in the forms
439
1461000
5000
24:51
saying they want to give it a go.
440
1466000
2000
24:53
And so we only need one, so we're hopeful.
441
1468000
3000
24:56
CA: And you're also working in Africa on a couple of projects?
442
1471000
4000
25:00
RB: Yes, I mean, we've got -- we're setting up something called
443
1475000
4000
25:04
the war room, which is maybe the wrong word.
444
1479000
2000
25:06
We're trying to -- maybe we'll change it -- but anyway, it's a war room
445
1481000
4000
25:10
to try to coordinate all the attack that's going on in Africa,
446
1485000
4000
25:14
all the different social problems in Africa,
447
1489000
3000
25:17
and try to look at best practices.
448
1492000
4000
25:21
So, for instance,
449
1496000
3000
25:24
there's a doctor in Africa that's found that
450
1499000
3000
25:27
if you give a mother antiretroviral drugs at 24 weeks, when she's pregnant,
451
1502000
6000
25:33
that the baby will not have HIV when it's born.
452
1508000
7000
25:40
And so disseminating that information to
453
1515000
5000
25:45
around the rest of Africa is important.
454
1520000
2000
25:47
CA: The war room sounds, it sounds powerful and dramatic.
455
1522000
3000
25:50
And is there a risk that the kind of the business heroes of the West
456
1525000
5000
25:55
get so excited about -- I mean, they're used to having an idea,
457
1530000
4000
25:59
getting stuff done, and they believe profoundly
458
1534000
3000
26:02
in their ability to make a difference in the world.
459
1537000
2000
26:04
Is there a risk that we go to places like Africa and say,
460
1539000
3000
26:07
we've got to fix this problem and we can do it,
461
1542000
3000
26:10
I've got all these billions of dollars, you know, da, da, da --
462
1545000
3000
26:13
here's the big idea. And kind of take a much more complex situation
463
1548000
4000
26:17
and actually end up making a mess of it. Do you worry about that?
464
1552000
5000
26:22
RB: Well, first of all, on this particular situation, we're actually --
465
1557000
7000
26:29
we're working with the government on it.
466
1564000
2000
26:31
I mean, Thabo Mbeki's had his problems with accepting
467
1566000
4000
26:35
HIV and AIDS are related, but this is a way, I think,
468
1570000
5000
26:40
of him tackling this problem and instead of the world criticizing him,
469
1575000
6000
26:46
it's a way of working with him, with his government.
470
1581000
3000
26:49
It's important that if people do go to Africa and do try to help,
471
1584000
2000
26:51
they don't just go in there and then leave after a few years.
472
1586000
3000
26:54
It's got to be consistent.
473
1589000
2000
26:56
But I think business leaders can bring their entrepreneurial know-how
474
1591000
6000
27:02
and help governments approach things slightly differently.
475
1597000
4000
27:06
For instance, we're setting up clinics in Africa
476
1601000
3000
27:09
where we're going to be giving
477
1604000
2000
27:11
free antiretroviral drugs, free TB treatment
478
1606000
2000
27:13
and free malaria treatment.
479
1608000
3000
27:16
But we're also trying to make them self-sustaining clinics,
480
1611000
3000
27:19
so that people pay for some other aspects.
481
1614000
4000
27:23
CA: I mean a lot of cynics say about someone like yourself, or Bill Gates,
482
1618000
4000
27:27
or whatever, that this is really being -- it's almost driven by
483
1622000
3000
27:30
some sort of desire again, you know, for the right image,
484
1625000
3000
27:33
for guilt avoidance and not like a real philanthropic instinct.
485
1628000
5000
27:38
What would you say to them?
486
1633000
1000
27:39
RB: Well, I think that everybody --
487
1634000
2000
27:41
people do things for a whole variety of different reasons
488
1636000
4000
27:45
and I think that, you know, when I'm on me deathbed,
489
1640000
2000
27:47
I will want to feel that I've made a difference
490
1642000
3000
27:50
to other people's lives.
491
1645000
2000
27:52
And that may be a selfish thing to think,
492
1647000
3000
27:55
but it's the way I've been brought up.
493
1650000
2000
27:57
I think if I'm in a position to
494
1652000
2000
27:59
radically change other people's lives for the better,
495
1654000
3000
28:02
I should do so.
496
1657000
2000
28:04
CA: How old are you?
497
1659000
1000
28:05
RB: I'm 56.
498
1660000
1000
28:06
CA: I mean, the psychologist Erik Erikson says that -- as I understand him
499
1661000
5000
28:11
and I'm a total amateur -- but that during 30s, 40s people are driven by
500
1666000
6000
28:17
this desire to grow and that's where they get their fulfillment.
501
1672000
5000
28:22
50s, 60s, the mode of operation shifts more to the quest for wisdom
502
1677000
4000
28:26
and a search for legacy.
503
1681000
2000
28:28
I mean, it seems like you're still
504
1683000
2000
28:30
a little bit in the growth phases,
505
1685000
2000
28:32
you're still doing these incredible new plans.
506
1687000
2000
28:34
How much do you think about legacy,
507
1689000
2000
28:36
and what would you like your legacy to be?
508
1691000
2000
28:41
RB: I don't think I think too much about legacy.
509
1696000
3000
28:44
I mean, I like to -- you know, my grandmother lived to 101,
510
1699000
6000
28:50
so hopefully I've got another 30 or 40 years to go.
511
1705000
3000
28:54
No, I just want to live life to its full.
512
1709000
6000
29:00
You know, if I can make a difference,
513
1715000
2000
29:02
I hope to be able to make a difference.
514
1717000
2000
29:04
And I think one of the positive things at the moment is
515
1719000
3000
29:07
you've got Sergey and Larry from Google, for instance,
516
1722000
4000
29:11
who are good friends.
517
1726000
2000
29:13
And, thank God, you've got two people
518
1728000
3000
29:16
who genuinely care about the world and with that kind of wealth.
519
1731000
4000
29:20
If they had that kind of wealth and they didn't care about the world,
520
1735000
3000
29:23
it would be very worrying.
521
1738000
2000
29:25
And you know they're going to make a hell of a difference to the world.
522
1740000
3000
29:28
And I think it's important
523
1743000
2000
29:30
that people in that kind of position do make a difference.
524
1745000
4000
29:34
CA: Well, Richard, when I was starting off in business,
525
1749000
1000
29:35
I knew nothing about it and I also was sort of --
526
1750000
3000
29:38
I thought that business people were supposed to just be ruthless
527
1753000
2000
29:40
and that that was the only way you could have a chance of succeeding.
528
1755000
4000
29:44
And you actually did inspire me. I looked at you, I thought,
529
1759000
2000
29:46
well, he's made it. Maybe there is a different way.
530
1761000
2000
29:48
So I would like to thank you for that inspiration,
531
1763000
3000
29:51
and for coming to TED today. Thank you.
532
1766000
2000
29:53
Thank you so much.
533
1768000
1000
29:54
(Applause)
534
1769000
7000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard Branson - Entrepreneur
Richard Branson bootstrapped his way from record-shop owner to head of the Virgin empire. Now he's focusing his boundless energy on saving our environment.

Why you should listen

He's ballooned across the Atlantic, floated down the Thames with the Sex Pistols, and been knighted by the Queen. His megabrand, Virgin, is home to more than 250 companies, from gyms, gambling houses and bridal boutiques to fleets of planes, trains and limousines. The man even owns his own island.

And now Richard Branson is moving onward and upward into space (tourism): Virgin Galactic's Philippe Starck-designed, The first Burt Rutan-engineered spacecraft, The Enterprise, completed its first captive carry in early 2010 and is slated to start carrying passengers into the thermosphere in 2012, at $200,000 a ticket.

Branson also has a philanthropic streak. He's pledged the next 10 years of profits from his transportation empire (an amount expected to reach $3 billion) to the development of renewable alternatives to carbon fuels. And then there's his Virgin Earth Challenge, which offers a $25 million prize to the first person to come up with an economically viable solution to the greenhouse gas problem.

More profile about the speaker
Richard Branson | Speaker | TED.com