Virgin Master

When it comes to starting companies, Richard Branson, founder and president of the Virgin Group, is anything but a virgin. The English-born entrepreneur and adventurer has had a hand in starting hundreds of businesses in a variety of fields, including music recording (he signed the Sex Pistols!), retail, mobile-phone networks, financial services, aviation and soft drinks (though Virgin Cola has yet to hit the spot). Even Branson's death-defying escapades in long-distance ballooning pale in comparison to his fearlessness in establishing ventures in tenuous commercial areas: his willingness to greenlight new businesses have earned him the nickname "Dr. Yes." Among his latest are Virgin America, a U.S.-based low-fare carrier; Virgin Money, a service to generate loans from friends and family, and Virgin Galactic, a tourist shuttle to outer space. Branson, 57, is also passionate about dealing with the climate crisis, pledging to direct all the profits from his aviation business into an enterprise developing sustainable energy. He spoke to NEWSWEEK by phone from Necker Island, his private Caribbean retreat.

Levy: Why are you so bullish on air travel when things are looking so grim for that whole industry?
Branson: The best club in town never goes bankrupt, the best hotel never goes bankrupt, the best restaurant never goes bankrupt and the best airlines never go bankrupt. We started Virgin Atlantic 25 years ago, with one plane, and of the 13 American competitors we competed with across the Atlantic, every single one of them has gone bankrupt. If you can create a really good-quality product, even in difficult times you're likely to do well.

Presumably your competitors were smart people. What did you do right?
I try to create the kind of airline that I'd like to fly on. I hate getting stuck in my seat the whole journey, so with Virgin Atlantic, we put in stand-up bars where people can meet friends and talk. With Virgin America, you can order your food when you want from the seat and you don't have to wait for a stewardess to come to you. But [I take issue] when you say that in the airline business we're competing with bright people. In other businesses we're in, our competitors are extremely good at creating good-quality product. But the American airline industry is the exception to the rule. Getting on an American airline for most people is just about the worst experience of their lives. Thank God. Otherwise we wouldn't exist today.

You've started a Web site that handles bookings for small planes, Virgin Charter. Why?
If you want to charter a private plane, it's extremely difficult. When you get your secretary to ring up, she'll find a plane, most likely, but you don't know whether the price is fair, don't know the history about that plane, you don't know whether the crew onboard are any good. Virgin Charter basically is the first really good-quality-entrant online private-aviation site, and its technology makes it much easier to compare price, aircraft, quality, safety records, and it just ensures clients get the right plane for their trip.

When's the last time you used the Virgin Charter site to book a flight for yourself?
About three weeks ago I needed to get a plane from the Caribbean to the States, and we used Virgin Charter. I'll be using it a number of times a year.

How far can you stretch a brand before it starts losing its mojo?
For about 30 years, every time we've moved into a new area, the journalists have written, "Is this going to be one step too far for Virgin?" And it hasn't happened. Apple and Microsoft specialize in computers and Coca-Cola specializes in soft drinks, and Nike specializes in shoes. But Virgin is a way-of-life brand. Also, in every sector we're in, we're very much the David vs. the Goliath. As long as we don't let the consumers down in any new sectors we go into, I think we can still stretch the brand quite a lot further. I suspect that Virgin Galactic will propel the Virgin brand into the top 10 most respected brands in the world.