Finding My Virginity: The New Autobiography

by Richard Branson

  1988—We were sitting on boulders in the Caribbean on a cliff top. The boulder Holly was sitting on suddenly fell down the cliff with her following it. The boulder hit a tree, which fell gently on top of Holly and stopped her going all the way down the cliff.

  1989—I decided to make an entrance to my wedding with Joan, dangling from a helicopter in an all-white suit. I dropped into the shallow end of the pool by mistake, smashed my legs, and spent the whole wedding hobbling.

  1990—Flew to Iraq in a successful attempt to get Saddam Hussein to release hostages he was holding. It was incredibly tense and could have turned nasty—we celebrated with rescued family and loved ones as we left Iraq’s airspace.

  1990—We were about to get into a hot-air balloon to attempt to cross the Pacific, when it literally fell apart in front of our eyes. If it had happened after takeoff . . .

  1991—Our next attempt to cross the Pacific in a hot-air balloon saw it catch fire at 30,000 feet. We managed to extinguish the fire before the balloon was destroyed.

  1991—On the same balloon flight, we lost half our fuel when full tanks dropped as we jettisoned empty fuel. We thought we would run out of fuel halfway across the Pacific, before the strong winds in the jet stream saved us.

  1991—At the climax of the Pacific flight, we crashed in the Arctic—successfully completing the challenge, but crashing in minus-50-degree temperatures 3,000 miles from our planned destination in Los Angeles.

  1992—I was on holiday with the family in Sri Lanka, and the Prime Minister offered to take us up to Trincomalee to see how safe it was, after years of fighting with the Tamil Tigers. We arrived by helicopter to see a big, deserted hotel, a huge empty swimming pool and nobody else there. As we drove around the city, there were roadblocks everywhere. We went back to the hotel, but I just felt very uncomfortable and told our guide we wanted to leave, saying: “I don’t think this is a safe place for children.” They were good enough to fly us out before dark. That night the Tamils invaded and everyone in the town was slaughtered.

  1993—Heard a thief in my children’s bedroom in Holland Park, while I was sitting downstairs watching the Hitchcock film Psycho. I heard Joan let out a blood-curdling scream and raced upstairs. I threw a plastic bottle of water at the intruder as he ran away.

  1994—Driving down the M40 with the family in a Range Rover. At about 11:30 p.m., I flipped the car upside down on a corner. Another car came along and clipped us, smashing its wing mirror on the side of us. We were very fortunate that the police were in the vicinity. They ran up, got a light set up and broke us out with a truncheon. The family wisely banned me from driving after that!

  1994—Plans for a kidnapping attempt on the family were overheard in the local pub in Kidlington. Our gardener found out about it and told the police. Thankfully, nothing ever came of it.

  1995—I was waterskiing behind a blimp in Florida as part of a scene for the Baywatch TV show. I got into difficulties and was rescued by the Baywatch team.

  1996—We were about to take off on our first trans-global hot-air balloon flight attempt in Morocco when a British Airways plane turned its engine in the direction of the balloon and blew it away.

  1997—On our second trans-global ballooning attempt, the balloon plummeted into the Atlas Mountains. We just managed to stop it hitting the ground at full speed.

  1997—The second trans-global balloon attempt ended when we crashed in Algeria. We survived the crash but were then held hostage by a local warlord, who lavished food on us, but made it clear he wasn’t in any hurry to let us go. We kept on gently explaining that we really needed to get back to England, while they refused to let us make any telephone calls. Somehow we managed to get a message to the British ambassador. He talked to the Algerian president, who sent his personal executive jet to pick us up.

  1998—On our third trans-global hot-air balloon flight, the Chinese authorities threatened to shoot us down. Having escaped unscathed, we found we were going to fly over North Korea, who we were extremely worried might shoot us down, too. In the end, we received a welcoming email from them: “We’re happy to let you through—good luck on your challenge.”

  1998—On the same ballooning attempt we were caught up in strong winds in the Himalayan chain and ended up crossing directly above Mount Everest and K2.

  1998—The round-the-world hot-air balloon attempt ended when we plummeted into the Pacific and were rescued by the Hawaiian coast guard on Christmas Day. I had now been rescued by helicopter in the North Sea, twice in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, the Arctic, and off a banana boat. We sponsored London’s Air Ambulance for many years to say thank you.

  1999—Shortly after buying the Kasbah Tamadot in Morocco, I went out horse riding and was knocked off my horse.

  2000—There was a major electrical fire at our London house in Holland Park. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but a huge quantity of paperwork, diaries and personal possessions were lost.

  2000—Flew through the air, 100 feet below a helicopter in Sydney Harbor to launch Virgin Mobile Australia. Suddenly I saw the imposing structure of Sydney Harbor Bridge approaching fast, and thought I was going to hit it. At the last possible second the helicopter veered upward and I narrowly avoided becoming a permanent addition to the side of the bridge.

  2001—Narrowly missed stepping on a live track with 25,000 volts charged above, while inspecting our new tilting trains in England.

  2002—Another fire, this time at the then family home in Kidlington, where a blaze ripped through a cricket pavilion we used to store all manner of items from Virgin’s history, including my diaries.

  2003—Swimming with humpback whales and their young off the Dominican Republic, one decided to slam its heavy tail, narrowly missing me.

  2004—Agreed to do a bungee jump off Victoria Falls as part of my TV show The Rebel Billionaire. As I fell through the air I clipped my head on something and came back up with blood streaming down my face.

  2004—On the same show, I climbed a rope ladder to get to the top of a hot-air balloon at 10,000 feet. The lady I was with, contestant and Spanx owner Sara Blakely, nearly fell through the gap at the top. I was close to following her down.

  2005—Went out onto the water in a Hobie Cat, sailing between Anegada and Necker Island. The boat capsized and a young lad fell onto my back. I came back to Necker on a stretcher.

  2006—Came off a quad bike in the mountains of France on a very rough road and had to have a major operation on my shoulder.

  2007—Jumped off Palms Casino in Las Vegas as we announced Virgin America’s new route to the city. After initially refusing to do the jump, I reconsidered and plunged down the building at high speed in strong winds. I smashed painfully hard into the building. Fortunately, I hadn’t spun around, so my backside hit the wall rather than my head. It completely ripped the back of my trousers off, cut my legs and arm open and badly bruised my hand.

  2008—Tried to break the transatlantic sailing record with my children and become the fastest mono-hull sailing yacht to cross the Atlantic. We were severely seasick but making good time before the boat broke and we had to abandon the attempt.

  2009—Went wing-walking on a Virgin Atlantic plane, while holding Kate Moss upside down. I slipped and we narrowly avoided plunging off the plane onto the tarmac.

  2009—Tried to beat a world record in an English Electric Lightning jet for the fastest 0–30,000 feet straight-up flight. It was extremely exhilarating and we narrowly missed out on the record. Sadly the pilot died a few days later on another attempt, as the plane lost control.

  2009—At the unveiling of SpaceShipTwo, a hurricane hit the Mojave Desert and we just managed to race onto buses as the winds sent scaffolding crashing down, blowing our marquee and everything inside it away into the desert night.

  2010—Larry Page and I went kitesurfing from Anegada and it suddenly got
very dark. After a very nervy few hours lost in the night, we were very relieved to find the safety of Necker.

  2011—Got hit by a young lad while skiing in Verbier. I had to have a major operation on my knee.

  2011—Fell into a cactus stark naked while rushing to help as fire engulfed the Great House on Necker. The house and our possessions were destroyed, but nobody was hurt.

  2012—Went swimming with sharks and sailfish, when one sailfish got extremely close. Its razor-sharp, sword-like bill was a centimeter away from blinding me.

  2012—Climbed Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in France, with my children and friends. We had a near miss with boulders falling around us but just managed to avoid them.

  2012—Kitesurfed across the English Channel after a failed attempt the day before. I lost my board 110 times, avoided huge ships, and ended up practically frozen when we got to France, to be met by armed and angry police.

  2013—Joined Holly to kite around Necker for the first time. I foolishly lost my kite in seriously choppy seas. Holly had to kite back to Necker to get a boat to rescue me.

  2014—Another near miss with boulders as we hiked through Switzerland on the Virgin Strive Challenge.

  2014—Was on board a speedboat racing in the Poker Run in the British Virgin Islands. Two boats went out of control in front of us, smashing into each other. We just managed to avert them.

  2016—Smashed my teeth twice within a month while playing tennis on Necker Island.

  2016—Ran into a bullet-proof door while trying to enter a jewelry shop in the Cayman Islands to buy Joan a present for our anniversary.

  2016—Was “kissed” by a shark as I swam with rays in the Cayman Islands.

  2016—My life flashed before my eyes as I went over the handlebars while cycling on Virgin Gorda. My bike disappeared off the cliff, I escaped with a cracked cheek, severe cuts and bruises and a torn shoulder.

  Bonus close shave: (OK, this one wasn’t exactly life and death, but when I was caught by my wife kitesurfing with naked model Denni Parkinson on my back, it certainly felt like it!)

  If I keep getting this lucky, and live long enough, I hope to write the final entry in my trilogy of autobiographies when I am well into my nineties, possibly with my great-grandchildren, potentially from up in space. The working title for my last book? Virginity Found.

  PICTURE CREDITS

  Section One

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  Here: Virgin Mobile

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  Here: © National Portrait Gallery, London

  Here: Virgin Mobile

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  Here: The Elders

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  Section Two

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  Here: Virgin Australia

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  Here: © Jack Brockway

  Here: © Paul Nicklen

  Here: © Getty Images/Larry Busacca

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  Here: © Owen Buggy

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  Here: © Reuters

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  Section Three

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  Here: Virgin Hotels

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  Here: © Owen Buggy

  Here: © Rebecca Family Photography

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  Here: Mark Kelly

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  Here: © Jack Brockway

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  Here: © Joann McPike

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gin Sport

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  Here: Virgin Orbit

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  Here © Owen Buggy

  The publisher has made every effort to credit the copyright owners of any material that appears within and will correct any omissions in subsequent editions if notified.

  INDEX

  The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.

  Aabar Investments, 213–14, 218–19, 334

  A&M Records, 55

  Abbott, Tony, 196–97

  Abu Dhabi, 213

  Abunalla, Mike, 77

  Adidas, 318

  Afghanistan, 396

  Africa, 68, 350–52, 397, 423

  South Africa, 48–54, 78, 148–52, 293, 342

  African National Congress (ANC), 51, 150, 152

  Agassi, Andre, 130

  Ahmed, Ajaz, 147

  AIDS, 48, 51–52, 74, 149–52, 388

  Ainslie, Ben, 201, 202, 207–8

  AirAsia, 227–29

  AirBnB, 357

  Airbus, 8, 71, 81–82, 113, 120, 165, 367

  A350, 407–8

  airlines, 93, 108, 344

  Air New Zealand, 29–30, 34, 193, 195

  American, 98, 101, 190–92, 197, 199, 344

  Delta, 193, 197–99, 344, 346

  Open Skies agreement and, 191

  Qantas, 24, 25, 28–31, 34, 70, 192–97

  safety videos of, 100–101

  see also British Airways; Virgin America; Virgin Atlantic; Virgin Australia

  Air New Zealand, 29–30, 34, 193, 195

  AKQA, 147

  Alaska Airlines, 344–48, 431

  Aldrin, Buzz, 121

  Alexander, Tom, 16

  Ali, Tariq, 72

  Allen, Paul, 84–87, 89, 122

  Alsbury, Mike, 221, 320, 324, 327, 328, 330, 332–33, 338

  Alstom, 43–45

  American Airlines (AA), 98, 101, 190–92, 197, 199, 344

  America’s Cup World Series, 207–8

  Amin, Idi, 75

  Amnesty International, 388–89

  amphibious vehicles, 112–15