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Richard Branson

This Month

David Baxby from Coogee Capital.

Why Branson’s ex right-hand man is investing in workplace health

David Baxby has invested in just about everything from airlines to gyms. Now for the first time, he is putting his money into healthcare.

  • Michael Smith

September

The MSO is not a safe haven for everyone.

The MSO brought this row on itself

Young self-absorbed artists and old complacent arts organisations like the MSO don’t understand that great art is powerful because it transcends politics.

  • John Roskam

April

Junior Suite at Zel, Mallorca.

From Branson to Nadal – big names are investing millions in Mallorca

Forget the parties and tacky tourism around Magaluf. Celebrities and luxury hotel chains are putting up brass plates across one of Spain’s favourite Balearic Islands.

  • Jane Knight

February

Strength training can help people worries about broken bones.

The physio’s guide to injury recovery

Our ageing population is more active, which is good, but they are more likely to hurt themselves. There are some simple ways to avoid and recover from injury.

  • Nick Harding

December 2023

Jayne Hrdlicka CEO Virgin Australia.

Virgin cabin crew win up to 18pc in pay deal

The agreement comes as airlines face the threat of more competition and a slowing economy.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
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Santos-Woodside’s skinny premium; Aussies’ COP mess; RBA’s tweak

Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.

Sir Richard Branson

A lesson in branding from Sir Richard Branson

Our intrepid reporter was given 15 minutes to get an exclusive from the irrepressible 73-year-old.

  • Tony Davis

November 2023

Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson celebrates the arrival of Flight 100.

Virgin jet fuelled on cooking oil crosses Atlantic

Airlines are banking on fuel made from waste to reduce their emissions by up to 70 per cent, but costs are high and large-scale production difficult.

  • Sarah Young and Joanna Plucinska

July 2023

Ozempic is designed to improve blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes. Its active ingredient works by inducing the feeling of being satisfied.

The weight loss cycle: out with Jenny Craig, in with Ozempic

Depending who you ask, Ozempic is “phenomenal” for patients or a “dangerous” way of losing weight. Either way, its arrival heralds a new model of medicine.

  • Nick Bonyhady
For chef Liam Nichols, a job on Richard Branson’s Necker Island was short-lived.

How the super-rich are turning professionals into servants

An increasing number of experts, such as financial advisers, have become exclusive to the uber-wealthy, who pay to wall them away from the rest of the world.

  • Howard Chua-Eoan

June 2023

John Singleton

Singleton’s surprising return to radio started in his Gosford pub

The maverick Central Coast former adman, who professes an undying love of radio, has become the patron of his local community station.

  • Updated
  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush in 2013.

How Stockton Rush’s vision ended in tragedy for Titan submersible

The 61-year-old was one of five people on board OceanGate’s Titan submersible when it lost contact with its mother ship.

  • Robert Wright and Oliver Barnes
OceanGate’s Titan submersible in 2021.

How missing sub was built from ‘camping shop stock’

The missing submersible was no roomier than a minivan, and was piloted by a video game controller, according to a journalist who made the voyage last year.

  • Rozina Sabur
Billionaire Hamish Harding is on board the missing Titan submersible.

Billionaire trapped on sub has a daredevil past

From the depths of the Mariana Trench to the rigours of space, British adventurer Hamish Harding is no stranger to traversing boundaries.

  • Sarah Knapton

May 2023

Forbes Australia founder Michael Lane with businesswoman and model Miranda Kerr at the Forbes Women’s Summit.

Forbes Australia cancels wealth summit seven months after launch

The new business publication put a “pause” on the big-name summit, saying the timing wasn’t right to hold the event.

  • Mark Di Stefano
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April 2023

Orbit

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy

The rocket company spun off from the billionaire’s spaceflight company has already sacked most of its staff after failing to raise money from investors.

  • Joey Roulette
Virgin boss Richard Branson.

Virgin Orbit to slash 85pc of its workforce

The move comes after a failed mission to launch the first satellites into orbit from Europe.

  • Michelle Chapman

March 2023

NASA head Bill Nelson says commercial activity in space is reducing costs for the US government.

Billionaires in space help relaunch NASA’s firepower: agency chief

Billionaires taking supersonic joyrides into the edge of space are helping to bring down the cost of space exploration for NASA and similar agencies, its current head says.

  • Julie Hare

December 2022

“Titanic” film director James Cameron

Ray Dalio invests in submarines for the ultrarich

The billionaire joins Avatar filmmaker James Cameron to make submersibles for exploration-minded yacht owners.

  • Ortenca Aliaj
Other space ventures still reporting material weaknesses include Rocket Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch business fronted by Richard Branson.

SPACs confess to accounting weaknesses as year-end audits loom

Forty-nine per cent of a sample of companies that went public in the cash shell boom had material flaws.

  • Updated
  • Stephen Foley

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/richard-branson-512