Finding My Virginity: The New Autobiography

by Richard Branson

  As it turns out, the answer is, very difficult. After long and detailed negotiations with Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading private investment firms, we agreed to one of the biggest deals in Virgin’s history. In June 2015, I took a helicopter ride across Biscayne Bay and landed at Miami’s Museum Park. I was in town to announce that PortMiami would be the home of Virgin Voyages’ first cruise ship. Renowned Italian shipbuilders Fincantieri are building three midsize ships for us, with the first ready to sail in 2020 and the next two following in 2021 and 2022.

  Wandering around the dock, surrounded by the great and good of this enormous industry, I still felt that the cruises sector was a bit stuffy. While I was skipping around in a red and white sailor’s uniform, complete with captain’s hat, there were ties everywhere I looked—even in the roasting Miami sunshine. So I offered the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos A. Giménez, a helping hand to cool him down, cutting his tie off, then repeating the trick with PortMiami CEO, Juan M. Kuryla and Fincantieri chairman Vincenzo Petrone. Mayor Giménez thankfully saw the funny side and promised to “pass an ordinance forbidding ties from now on.” Virgin Voyages” new CEO, Tom McAlpin, joined me to raise our flag in the dock and the company was officially launched.

  —

  One of the best ideas we developed during this time wasn’t to do with a new product, but a new approach as to how we looked after our staff.

  I was working from my hammock when Holly sent me an article from the Daily Telegraph all about the video streaming company Netflix and its revolutionary vacation policy.

  “Dad, check this out,” Holly wrote. “It’s something I have been wanting to introduce for a long time; I believe it would be a very Virgin thing to do to not track people’s holidays. I have a friend whose company has done the same thing and they’ve apparently experienced a marked upward spike in everything—morale, creativity and productivity have all gone through the roof.”

  The idea was catching on with a few Silicon Valley start-ups, where teams were lean and HR departments usually nonexistent. But I wondered if we could make it work for a bigger business, and encourage more companies to follow suit. I have never worked from an office and have always urged my teams to get away from their desks whenever possible. Nine to five has never applied to me—unless you count our early Virgin Records days, when our usual hours were closer to 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.!

  Over the years, technology has revolutionized, for better or for worse, how we all work. While developments have allowed people more freedom in the way they work, it also means many people end up checking emails in the evenings, answering non-urgent messages and working up presentations while they should be relaxing at home. Urging people to stop this extra work is simply impractical. Allowing them to make up their lost time elsewhere is not only achievable, it’s appealing in the independence it gives people.

  We had already introduced a flexible working policy, whereby Virgin Group’s head office staff can work from home and take time off when they need it. But what would it mean to go further, and give our employees “unlimited leave?” Exactly that—leave without limits. You read that correctly: we decided to let all our head office team take as much holiday as they want, when they want, fully paid. There is no catch—all the employees have to do is get consent from their manager. It is based on trust, and the assumption that nobody will leave their colleagues in the lurch and only take holiday when they are up to date with their work.

  There are times of the year, such as around the Christmas holidays, when it makes no sense to have an office full of understandably unproductive employees. They really want to be at home bingeing on festive films with their loved ones, so what’s the point of keeping them chained to their desks? By giving them the freedom to make their own decisions, plan their own workloads and choose their own holidays, when they do work they are likely to be far more effective. It’s a great recruitment tool. I’m sure many staff will see it as a reward, but I see it as a way to make us more efficient. It’s simply about treating people as you yourself would wish to be treated. Many people have asked whether this idea has come about because I live on Necker, but I worked flexibly even when I lived in London, too. It isn’t about age either—when I became a parent that was the real shift to me wanting to spend more time working from home. Put simply, it works. If I can work from a hammock, start work at 6 a.m. and take time out in the day to go kitesurfing, there is no reason why one of my team in London or New York can’t take a Friday off to enjoy a long weekend away, or leave the office early to see their child in a school play. I put it down in writing: “We should focus on what people get done, not on how many hours or days worked. Just as we don’t have a nine to five policy, we don’t need a vacation policy.”

  Not everybody saw it that way, though. What I saw as a simple, sensible solution to a modern problem was met in some quarters as an invitation to anarchy. The phrase “unlimited leave” seemed to scare people. I was doing a talk in Washington and I told the audience: “As long as our staff get their work done well, they can take as much holiday as they want.” I had said the same thing at another talk the day before and got a round of applause. This time there was no clapping. Confused, after I left the stage I asked one of the people in the audience why this was. “Our bosses were all sitting in the audience, too. I was afraid that if I clapped they would hold it against me.” I told them this was sad. Any manager who punishes their staff for expressing an opinion hasn’t got the faintest idea about leadership. People in charge should empower their employees, not scare them into silence.

  Since unlimited leave was introduced, we have seen an upturn in productivity, morale and staff well-being. We’ve had more job applications than ever before, with people keen to join a company that treats them like the capable adults they are. I’m sure more companies will follow suit, inside and outside the Virgin Group, and unlimited leave will be the norm within a couple of decades. If you are open and flexible your employees will be, too. Choice empowers people to make great decisions.

  This was also the reasoning behind another of our new policies: Virgin Management enabling its employees to have up to a year’s paid parental leave. In 2015 the British government introduced new Shared Parental Leave legislation, recognizing the unfairness of the old policy that meant one parent missed out on lots of the crucial early months of their child’s life. I was well aware of what a magical time it is for parents—and how much hard work it is. So we decided to take the policy a step further by giving all employees with four years or more service enhanced shared parental leave pay up to 100 percent of salary for fifty-two weeks. We’ve had so many people work here whilst raising their families that I wanted to ensure they got to spend as much time with their kids as possible. It’s just another little way of putting well-being at the heart of everything we do. The more you support your staff, the healthier and happier your business will be.

  CHAPTER 37

  Satellites

  I was sitting down at the bar in the Temple on Necker, watching the flamingos and scarlet ibis fly overhead, when a guest came over and told me he had an idea I couldn’t afford to miss out on. This sounded familiar—but when Greg Wyler began talking about OneWeb, the biggest satellite constellation in history, my eyes lit up.

  “Hang on,” I said, turning away from the birds and giving him my full attention. “Let’s get a drink at the bar and you can tell me more.”

  “Basically, we’ll have a massive constellation of satellites in the sky. These will interlock with each other—so the whole planet, including the four billion people who don’t currently get coverage, will be able to.”

  My mind raced through the possibilities. “Will it be fast enough for everyone to get online?”

  “Yes. Because they will be closer to the Earth than other satellites, the internet performance will be faster.”

  “I see. And that’s where we come in?”

  Greg was tal
king to me because he needed my contacts, investment and Virgin Galactic’s involvement to make this work. With our air-based launch system, we could replenish satellites much faster and more cheaply than land-based launches. We would increase safety, access, reliability and frequency, while reducing costs. OneWeb could use Virgin Galactic’s small satellite launch system to its full potential. Together, we began sketching out a plan to bring internet access to those in the world who didn’t have it.

  Greg wanted to see if I could introduce him to Google, as we were talking about hundreds of satellites and billions of dollars. I emailed Larry. “I don’t usually pitch to you,” I wrote, “but I know this project will interest you greatly. Attached is a plan for developing a huge constellation of satellites, which Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne could deliver into orbit. Let me know if you’re keen and we’ll follow up.” Larry, it turned out, was very interested: “This company has the potential to be as big as Google one day,” he told me. “It could make a massive difference to millions of people’s lives.” Greg began working out of Google’s offices in San Francisco while they negotiated their deal and he built his team. But then he got a call from Elon Musk, offering a deal that was substantially better than the one Google offered. Elon told Greg one of the reasons he wanted in was for SpaceX to get the launch rights for OneWeb, rather than Virgin Galactic. When I heard this, I was saddened that Elon didn’t consider working with Larry and me. We could have achieved even more by working together and, after all, we are friends. It would have made better business sense. If our positions were reversed, I would have talked to him and tried to collaborate rather than sweep the deal from under him. Some people find it hard working with friends, but I have always found the opposite. As long as there is trust and understanding, I truly believe it can work. Regardless, Greg started negotiating a contract with Elon. But, before long, they had a disagreement. Elon thought he could get similar spectrum rights (the frequency through which you can transmit data) to the key ones Greg owned. Elon parted company just before signing the contract, instead wanting to start his own rival satellite venture. At this point, Greg came back to see me, obviously disappointed, and explained the situation. The more we looked at it, from a legal as well as technical perspective, the more we just didn’t believe Elon could get the spectrum rights. Up until this point we hadn’t offered to be financial partners with OneWeb, just offering Virgin Galactic’s services as a launch provider. Now I decided this was such a huge opportunity that we should help to fund OneWeb, who by now had Qualcomm lined up as investors, too. I emailed Greg: “I’m happy to invest, and will help bring in multiple other investors, if we can reach an agreement quickly.” Finally, things ran more smoothly. Virgin joined Qualcomm as lead investors (followed in the months to come by a formidable group of investors including Airbus, Coca-Cola and SoftBank—it was notable how companies not traditionally in the space industry were inspired to join us). OneWeb was officially live.

  By January 2015, I heard a rumor that Elon was going to try to spike what we were doing by rushing out an announcement about his rival satellite network before us. It was the week before the World Economic Forum in Davos and I was determined to be first to the punch. I sent a note to the team: “We need to announce it this week—if not, we risk being drowned out by Elon’s press conference, even though our project has far greater scale and chance of success.”

  We worked on the deal through the night and on the first morning of Davos we made our announcement. OneWeb would build, launch and operate the world’s largest ever satellite network, making high-speed internet and telephony available to millions of people who didn’t currently have access. Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne program—which became a new company called Virgin Orbit in March 2017—would help make it possible with frequent satellite launches at a much lower cost and with greater reliability. The result is that we had what was the biggest order in history for putting satellites into space.

  There were so many reasons why I was so excited by this project. Budding entrepreneurs who wanted to start businesses would be able to connect with the rest of the world and create jobs. People who didn’t currently have access to proper teaching would be able to receive education. There was no end of ways the constellation could transform people’s lives and revitalize communities. The investment marked a strategy shift for Virgin, too. It makes a big difference that we now have the resources to afford a long-term perspective. OneWeb and Virgin Orbit are prime examples.

  After the announcement at Davos, I crunched across the snow and headed to another event, this time on equality in business. It was being led by Sheryl Sandberg, the brilliant founder of Lean In and COO at Facebook. As business leaders shared their views on how to get more women into boardrooms, I listened carefully and made copious notes. Before long, my notebook was full and I began scribbling over my program. When there was no room left in the margins, I wrote on my name tag. Afterward, Sheryl came over.

  “I’m amazed you were the only one taking notes in the whole room.”

  “I always do—how else would I remember everything?”

  I find her an incredibly sharp, warm leader. Knowing how passionate Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are about opening up internet access for all, I talked to Sheryl about the OneWeb project.

  “This sounds fascinating,” she said. “Come to the office and talk to Mark about it, too.”

  The next week, I went to Silicon Valley. My first appointment was to see Elon at Tesla. He welcomed me into his office and we shared the latest on some of our other ventures, before getting down to business. On the subject of satellites, I put my cards all out on the table.

  “This is a massive project. Why don’t we just work together? We’ve got the network, we can help replenish satellites as they fall out, you can help put them up. There is plenty of money to be made for all of us, and we can make a bigger difference together.”

  Elon’s response was to bring up his main goal—reaching Mars. “If I can make enough money to fulfill my Mars mission, I’m happy to do something together,” he said.

  When I left the meeting, I couldn’t work out whether he wanted to be a partner or not, though I suspected the latter. Elon is tremendously smart and even more driven. I admire his talent and willingness to take calculated risks. He has been inches from failure on many, many occasions and kept pushing. He’s the Henry Ford of his generation. Whether we end up working together or not, we’ll have to wait and see. Regardless, we’ll remain friends.

  Continuing my discussions, I went on to Facebook, to talk to Mark Zuckerberg about OneWeb. For someone with the power, reach and influence of Mark, I am impressed how understated he is: the main focus of the company is on the team, not on him. As I sat there, outlining OneWeb’s vision, I could instantly sense his enthusiasm.

  “Enabling people in poorer countries to get web access is one of the most important ways to pull people out of poverty,” said Mark. “I completely agree. I think we have a way to do it.”

  Mark is less gregarious than Sheryl, but extremely perceptive, and I could see his heart was in the right place.

  “By the way,” I said, “I loved what you said at your IPO. Along the lines of: ‘We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.’”

  “I can’t remember if I said that,” Mark confessed, “but I definitely believe it.”

  After our meeting, I walked out with Mark, we shook hands and he went straight to a desk in the middle of the office and sat down among his team. I have always thought it refreshing, and sensible, for leaders to get right among their people. That way you get to know them, hear their ideas, build stronger ties and create relationships in a way you never can sealed off behind a closed door.

  Later in 2015, Mark and his wife Priscilla Chan announced they are giving 99 percent of their shares away to good causes, a gesture I have enormous respect for. Achieving business success, while also hel
ping people and the planet, is a constant in my life, too. Hopefully more young entrepreneurs will follow suit—as well as old ones. I’ve always had massive admiration for Ted Turner, for business triumphs like creating CNN and generosity like helping set up the UN Foundation. Sam, Bellie and I were fortunate enough to stay with him on his Avalon Plantation near Tallahassee, Florida. A local taxi driver came to pick us up and I started making small talk: “Do you shoot pheasants around here?” He responded: “No, we haven’t shot peasants around here for a long time. We call them white trash here.” I could hear Sam and Bellie falling about with laughter in the backseat. I just nodded along and tried to keep a straight face. Ted’s estate is magical. He is a keen conservationist, the largest bison herder in the world and has reintroduced species like the red-cockaded woodpecker and even wolves. When we went out riding one evening, Ted howled like a wolf and the wolves responded. His talent for combining business with philanthropy is something we can all learn from.

  We didn’t end up working with Facebook this time around. They pursued their own plans for providing WiFi connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa using drones, while Google took another direction, using balloons. I could be completely wrong, and it would be fantastic if their approaches work, but found both ideas quite bizarre. Having said that, I wouldn’t bet against Larry Page or Mark Zuckerberg. Larry has already proved me wrong with self-driving cars. I remember being at the bar on Necker about eight years ago, when he told me “Self-driving cars are my new obsession. Within the next decade, they will be everywhere.” At the time, I didn’t think it was one of his more plausible ideas. But the technology has since improved, just as Larry had predicted.