Sunday, February 23, 2003		Books

A bare-all story of a showman’s life
Deepika Gurdev

Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography
revised & updated by Richard Branson. Virgin Books. 2002. Pages 608.
$15 (Singapore)

RICHARD Branson has it all, he’s hip, fun, adventurous and very, very rich. In Losing My Virginity, Branson recounts his career, from his early days releasing Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells to his life with British Air. It is little wonder then that this captivating autobiography of an icon has been top of the charts and has been rated as the number one international bestseller.

In this revised edition, Branson adds to his amazing memoirs, bringing both his — and Virgin’s — story up-to-date. From the highs and lows of both his personal as well as business life, Richard Branson bares all.

And it’s not just another coming-of-age story, as the title would lead you to believe. At least not in the traditional boy-meets-girl sense. For Branson lives his life and runs his various Virgin companies in a most non-traditional way. Best known for starting Virgin Music, and for his failed attempt to circle the globe in a hot air balloon, Branson’s is fascinating autobiography of a man who succeeded by taking huge risks, proving that the established way is not the only way.

A self-proclaimed poor student who suffered from dyslexia, Branson made his mark in high school by starting an alternative school newspaper called Student with his friend Jonny Gems. From the start, he showed an aptitude for business, something that soon manifested itself in his bid to get local businesses to buy advertising space to offset the cost of producing the paper. Soon, the newspaper became an all-encompassing passion, forcing him to drop out of school, with the headmaster commenting, "Branson, you’ll either wind up a convict or a millionaire."

A jail experience happened too, albeit for a very short while. But it was while working on Student, that Branson geared up to face some of the real issues of his time. He started the Student Advisory Centre to help young people with problems, ranging from teen pregnancy to suicidal tendencies. This marked the beginning of a lifetime of charitable endeavours that happened to be just about as controversial and non-traditional as his business ventures.

His Student days also served as a platform to launch a discount mail-order music company. Branson used the paper’s growing circulation as a base. The venture quickly took off, but a postal strike illustrated how dependent he was on the post office to deliver the orders. That prompted him to open a retail music store. At a time when music stores in the United Kingdom were stuffiness personified, Branson thought that if his store had an inviting atmosphere, comfortable chairs and sofas to lounge in, and listening stations, then young people would congregate and talk about music. And they would buy more records.
As the retail store began to monopolise his time, Student ran its last edition. As the business enjoyed continued prosperity — leading to a chain of stores across the country — Branson bought a recording studio outside London and began renting it out to musicians and bands to record their music.

Branson eventually started his own record label, Virgin Music, and the label’s first artist was Mike Oldfield and his album Tubular Bells. Oldfield became one of the best-selling artists of the mid-70s. The signing of Boy George and Culture Club gave Virgin Music its first breakthrough.

Branson pursued his hobbies with the same enthusiasm and passion as his business ventures. He and a friend broke the record for crossing the Atlantic in a speed boat, which led to his teaming with Swedish balloonist Per Lindstrom to attempt crossing the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. Their first attempt ended in the Irish Sea. Undeterred, they set their sights higher: Ballooning around the world. On their first attempt, they began in
Japan and wound up crashing in the Canadian wilderness in the middle of a blizzard. Perhaps Branson’s biggest gamble was Virgin Atlantic Airways.

He daringly took on the long-established British Airways, accusing them of monopoly and unfair business practices. Branson eventually won a sizable out-of-court settlement from British Airways. The strength of Losing my Virginity is Branson’s modesty and honesty. He speaks frankly about his life and sets at rest once and for all the criticism heaped on him for being a showman. His reason for using his personality is quite simply to promote the branding for Virgin. As he explains, "Sometimes in the line of duty, you have to make a fool of yourself". Surprisingly, Branson comes off as a lovable underdog battling the establishment, instead of a spoiled tycoon.

Then there are tons of sobering thoughts as well. For instance, once on his early morning jog, he ran into his local butcher, who offered him this advice, "I see you playing with your son and you obviously love having each other around. You’ve proved everything you need to prove. Don’t be selfish. You owe it to your son not to go and kill yourself. So stop this high altitude ballooning-round-the-world idea."

"I went back home feeling utterly chastened. I realised that it was one thing to put my business at risk, but another to put my family in jeopardy. Harry’s comments had made me realise that I was taking them for granted and being selfish."
All this and a whole lot more make his autobiography a difficult-to-put-down book.

And for those of you who are looking forward to more delights from Branson, thee’s good news. In the introduction he explains that Losing My Virginity is the first volume of his autobiography, which takes him up to his early 40s. How Branson will reinvent middle-age and retirement would certainly make for a compelling sequel.