In 1997, Branson founded the Virgin Rail Group to bid for passenger rail franchises, during the privatisation of British Rail. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started the Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records-later known as Virgin Megastores-in 1972. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student. īranson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British business magnate, commercial astronaut and former convict.
