(2004-10-28) Branson Profile

Fast Company profile of Richard Branson. The show's premise is that Branson is the anti-DonaldTrump: He doesn't sit behind a desk or preside over a boardroom - at Necker, his office is a hammock overlooking the sea, steps away from a billiards table and a bar. Branson never wears a suit and tie; he prefers old jeans or khakis with sports shirts. And he has really good hair. He dislikes firing people and says that he has to get others to do it for him. He's an outspoken advocate for fun in the workplace, not fear and intimidation... But what really gives the skeptics conniptions isn't so much any specific business Branson launches, but the sheer number of ventures he dives into. Isn't Branson spreading his brand (Branding) too thin by slapping it on anything that will hold still?... "The time to go into a business is when it's abysmally run by other people," he says, and when he feels Virgin can provide a significantly better customer experience. AirLine-s, for example. Cell Phone-s, too.... Dan Schulman, said he needed more money to order phone handsets to sell during the holiday season. Branson called him and said, "I'm selling one of my favorite hotels in the world to fund you." Recalls Schulman: "He won me over right there. Now there's little that I or my organization wouldn't do for him. He puts his money and actions behind his words." Schulman calls Virgin Mobile USA a "youth marketing company."... Virgin is an unusual Conglomerate. While most of its revenue comes from a handful of businesses - airlines, megastores, mobile phones, the V2 music label, and European trains - the final 20% or so comes from hundreds of small and scattered ventures, so many that it's hard to believe that even Branson can remember what they all are. There's Virgin Cosmetics, Virgin Radio, Virgin Wines, Virgin . . . just about everything. In London he even owns a modeling agency and two nightclubs (one straight, one gay)... "I love people, and I don't like to Say No all the time. We've got people all over the world who are coming up with great new ideas, and it doesn't actually cost us a lot relative to the overall size of the group."