How buying island with Richard Branson changed life of vitamin mogul

Radek Sali successfully turned Swisse into a star-studded brand plugged by big name celebs, amassing a personal fortune estimated at $400 million. But it was buying an island with Richard Branson that ensured his seat at the heavy-hitters table.

Makepeace Island, near Noosa, is a heart-shaped piece of paradise.

The rich lister who turned the Swisse brand into a vitamin empire has revealed how owning a luxurious “heart shaped” Queensland island getaway with British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson changed his life.

Radek Sali, 42, who successfully turned Swisse into a star-studded brand plugged by Ricky Ponting and Nicole Kidman, has amassed a personal fortune estimated at $400 million after the brand was sold to Chinese buyers.

But it was after buying into Branson’s heart-shaped Makepeace Island, located off the coast of Noosa in Queensland, that Mr Sali joined the table with corporate heavy hitters and tried to get Aussie businesses to be “fairer” and “more human”.

Mr Sali was invited by Sir Richard to be part of the 10-person Australian team, including corporate Australia’s “chairman of everything” David Gonski, Mirvac chief Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz and Citibank Australia chair Sam Mostyn.

Justin Beiber and will.i.am are just two of Makepeace Island’s famous visitors.

In 2009, Makepeace Island was developed as a private retreat for family and friends of Sir Richard and Virgin Australia co-founder Brett Godfrey. It is now one of Australia’s most exclusive getaways said to have a $10,000-to-$25,000 a night rate.

High-profile visitors have included pop star Justin Bieber, US rapper will.i.am, The Bachelor’s Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski, and singers Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

The getaway has a colourful history. It was once the residence of a reclusive old woman named “Shotgun” Hannah Makepeace who, after settling on the island in the 1920s, would fire her weapon in the air to alert her neighbours that she needed groceries.

Mr Sali became the third investor in the island last year and hit it off with Sir Richard.

Makepeace Island is said to have a $10,000-to-$25,000 a nightly rate.

And it was here that Sir Richard opened up to Mr Sali about his vision for an international network of business people who would come together to address important issues — from the future of work, to encouraging diversity and business transparency.

“We share that holiday retreat so we share a bit of time together so he thought I would add a lot of value,” Mr Sali said.

He laughed when asked about the main inspiration to get involved in being a positive leader.

Mr Sali said it was his worst boss that made him want to be better.

“I had a CEO once — and I’ve had many different CEOs — and this was one of the less constructive ones,” he said.

“I learned a lot from them because I learned what not to do. It was things like ‘if you want loyalty get a dog’.

Richard Branson. Picture: AP

Radek and Helen Sali Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

“He was full of all this material that inspired me to manage in a better way; there was so much to be learned from that and it made me a better manager.”

The name of the group, the B Team, is itself a joke. While the plan A was always about making money, Sir Richard said plan B should be based on broader values and about making changes “at home”.

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Mr Sali spoke to the Herald Sun as he helped start an initiative to get Australian corporates to start thinking about how artificial intelligence would take jobs and what they needed to do to help staff adapt.

The principles included saying companies needed to better plan for technological change and assessing the impact on staff.

They also needed to better think about how to transition staff to new skilled jobs, and they needed to support people who lost jobs.

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