Timeline of Richard Branson's business ventures

This is a list of Richard Branson's business ventures from the 1960s to today.

1960s
  • 1966 – After failed attempts to grow and sell both Christmas trees and budgerigars, Branson launches his first successful business, a magazine named Student, the first issue of which appearing in January 1968.[1] Branson's net worth was estimated at £50,000 by 1969.

1970s
  • 1970 – Starts selling records by mail-order
  • 1971 – Opens his first record shop on Oxford Street
  • 1972 – Opens a Virgin Recording Studio
  • 1973 – Launches Virgin Records record label [1]
  • 1979 – Buys the gay nightclub Heaven, located under Charing Cross railway station. It was sold in 2003 to a private buyer. Branson's net worth was estimated at £5 million by 1979.

1980s
  • 1980 – Virgin Records goes international
  • 1981 – Virgin buys the Kensington Roof Gardens[2]
  • 1983 – Virgin Vision, later to become Virgin Communications, is formed to distribute films and videos in the television and broadcasting sector.[3]
  • 1983 – Virgin Games is launched.
  • 1984 – Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Cargo are launched.[1]
  • 1984 – Virgin Vision (launched the previous year) launches "Music Box", a 24-hour satellite music station.
  • 1985 – Virgin Group now includes record labels, retail outlets, exported music publishing, broadcasting, satellite television, and film and video distribution.
  • 1985 – Branson starts Virgin Holidays
  • 1987 – Branson takes Virgin Records to the United States
  • 1987 – The Virgin Group, along with Granada, Anglia and Pearson, founds British Satellite Broadcasting and receives a UK license to broadcast five new TV channels by satellite in the UK.
  • 1987 – Virgin sets up 525, a post production facility in Los Angeles, to work on high-end commercials and pop videos.
  • 1987 – Virgin sets up "Music Box" as an independent producer of music programmes.
  • 1987 – Virgin buys a 45% stake in Mastertronic Group. Later Virgin Mastertronic becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Group, creating, marketing and distributing computer games software and Sega consoles in several European countries.
  • 1987 – Virgin buys Rushes Postproduction in London.
  • 1987 – Virgin launches Virgin Airship & Balloon Company.
  • 1987 – Richard Branson launched Mates condoms in the UK to promote condoms to young adults
  • 1988 – Virgin re-opens the recently acquired and re-modeled Olympic Studios in Barnes, London.
  • 1988 – Virgin launches Virgin Classics, another Virgin international record label specializing in high-quality classical music.
  • 1988 – Virgin sells some of its smaller UK retail stores and puts more money into Virgin Megastores, opening new stores both in the UK and abroad.
  • 1988 – Virgin sets up Virgin Broadcasting.
  • 1988 – Virgin sells its shareholding in British Satellite Broadcasting.

1990s

2000s
  • 2000 – Virgin launches Australian airline Virgin Blue (now called Virgin Australia)[12]
  • 2000 – Virgin sells Rushes Postproduction to Ascent Media – then Liberty Livewire
  • 2000 – Virgin launches Virgin Energy
  • 2000 – Virgin launches Virgin Cars
  • 2002 - Virgin Interactive Espania SA splits from Virgin Interactive and re-brands as Virgin Play
  • 2004 – Virgin launches Virgin Galactic
  • 2005 – Virgin Express merges with Sn Brussels Airlines to form Brussels Airlines. Virgin retains minority share.
  • 2005 – Virgin Active UK acquires Holmes Place
  • 2006 – Virgin announces Virgin Fuel, a new company to produce a clean fuel in the future
  • 2006 – Virgin Active Spain is Launched
  • 2007 – Virgin Active Portugal is Launched
  • 2007 – Virgin launches Virgin Health Bank
  • 2007 – Virgin launches Virgin Media
  • 2007 – Virgin launches Virgin America
  • 2007 – Virgin buys 20% stakes in AirAsia X
  • 2007 – Sells Virgin Megastore in the UK and Ireland to Zavvi[13]
  • 2007 – Virgin Media Television Launches Virgin 1
  • 2007 – Closes Virgin Digital in the UK (Virgin now sells music downloads through Virgin Media's website)
  • 2007 – Virgin Fuel US$400 million in Virgin Atlantic jet flight on biofuels and in renewable energy.
  • 2007 – Virgin Money becomes preferred bidder for acquisition of Northern Rock (and is eventually successful).
  • 2007 – Virgin Radio Italia launches in Italy in joint venture with Finelco.
  • 2007 – Virgin CrossCountry ceases after franchise lost to Arriva CrossCountry[14]
  • 2008 – Virgin Australia Airlines offers competitive prices between Australia and Los Angeles. Known as V Australia due to naming rights.
  • 2008 – Virgin launches Virgin Healthcare
  • 2009 – Virgin launches Virgin Money Giving

2010s
  • 2010 – Virgin launches Virgin Racing, a Formula One team previously known as Manor Grand Prix
  • 2010 – Virgin launches Virgin Gaming, a service for people of all skill levels to play competitively on popular Video Games.
  • 2010 – Virgin launches Virgin Produced, a film and television development, packaging and production company based in Los Angeles, California.
  • 2010 – Virgin launches Project, a digital magazine created exclusively for Apple Inc's iPad.
  • 2010 – Virgin Money buys Church House Trust
  • 2012 – Virgin Money buys Northern Rock[15]
  • 2012 – Virgin Galactic announces the development of orbital space launch system LauncherOne.[16]
  • 2013 – Virgin Media sold to Liberty Global
  • 2015 – Virgin Trains East Coast commences operating the InterCity East Coast franchise, Virgin Group hold a 10% shareholding[17]
  • 2016 – Virgin launches Virgin Voyages; Virgin Radio Jakarta launches in May 2016, replacing Ninety Niners FM. The station was owned by MPG Media
  • 2017 – Virgin invested in Hyperloop One; Branson joined its board of directors,[18] and in December 2017 became its chairman.[19]
  • 2018 – Virgin invests in Brightline trains in Florida, USA. The system is renamed to Virgin Trains USA.
  • 2018 – Virgin Trains East Coast ceases trading[20]
  • 2019 - Virgin purchases Flybe through the consortium Connect Airways, Flybe is subsequently renamed Virgin Connect.
  • 2019 - Virgin Trains West Coast ceases after InterCity West Coast franchise lost to Avanti West Coast[21]

References
  1. "Richard Branson". Entrepreneur. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  2. Kensington Roof Gardens to close after more than 35 years The Guardian 3 January 2018
  3. Dearlove, Des (13 Mar 2007). Business the Richard Branson Way: 10 Secrets of the World's Greatest Brand Builder (3 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. pp. 15. ISBN 9781841127668.
  4. "Richard Branson Biography". Bio. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  5. Hosking, Patrick (29 April 1993). "Branson takes to the airwaves: Hopes are high as Virgin Radio begins broadcasting". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  6. Branson's Virgin Group wins CrossCountry Trains for 15 years Rail issue 294 18 December 1996 page 6
  7. Virgin to tackle IC West Coast Rail Privatisation News issue 48 20 February 1997 page 1
  8. "Chris Evans takes over at Virgin Radio". BBC News. London. 9 December 1997. Retrieved 24 Sep 2014.
  9. Stagecoach to Acquire 49% Stake in Virgin Rail Today's Railways UK issue 32 August 1998 page 8
  10. Hughes snaps up Broncos Evening Standard 17 September 2001
  11. Branson sells 49% of Virgin Atlantic BBC News 20 December 1999
  12. Virgin Blue To Fly The Aussie Skies Virgin Blue 5 February 2000
  13. Branson sells Virgin music stores BBC News 17 September 2007
  14. Shock as Virgin loses Cross Country to Arriva The Railway Magazine issue 1277 September 2007 page 11
  15. "UKFI confirms completion of Northern Rock sale to Virgin Money" (PDF). UKFI. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  16. Amos, Jonathan (2012-07-11). "Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic to launch small satellites". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  17. Stagecoach/Virgin bid wins East Coast franchise The Railway Magazine issue 1366 January 2015 page 6
  18. "Hyperloop One Is Now 'Virgin Hyperloop One' Thanks to Richard Branson's Investment". Fortune. 2017-10-12.
  19. "New Chairman, New Funding, & New Speed Records". Hyperloop One. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  20. Government terminates Virgin Trains East Coast franchise Railway Gazette International 17 May 2018
  21. FirstGroup replaces Virgin to run West Coast route BBC News 14 August 2019
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