Sir Richard Branson is no stranger to near-death experiences and close shaves.
They range from balloon crashes to being home on Necker Island as one of the strongest storms to ever hit the Atlantic destroyed everything around him.
In 2016, he went over the handlebars of his bike while cycling on one of the British Virgin Islands. His bike disappeared over a cliff and Sir Richard was lucky to escape with a cracked cheek, torn ligaments and cuts and bruises.
So his latest venture seems somewhat safer, as it keeps his feet firmly planted on the ground.
It’s the launch of the audiobook, Losing And Finding My Virginity: The Full Story, read aloud by Sir Richard himself. It combines his two bestselling memoirs, providing an intimate look at his 50-plus years of business, adventure and philanthropy.
“It was fun,” Sir Richard, 73, says.
“We set up this sort of makeshift studio under my house with four mattresses and I had to turn the air conditioning off – and I live in the Caribbean so it was very hot.
“So I would sit there in my underwear, with sweat dripping down, with a bucket underneath the seat.
“And normally with audiobooks, you do it in New York or (a) London studio, you’ve got an editor sitting next to you telling you, correcting you as you go along, so I had to be my own editor at the time”.
It’s just over 27 hours of audio, detailing the life of one of the most flamboyant and daring business entrepreneurs of his generation, who was given a knighthood in the 1999 New Year’s Honours list.
In his teens, during the politically rebellious 1960s, he launched a national magazine run by students for students and, in between lessons, raised money for advertising.
At 19, he moved into the record industry, using his magazine as a vehicle to offer readers cut-price records.
That formed the basis of a mail-order company, followed in 1971 by the opening of the first Virgin record shop. Two years later, the business had burgeoned into a record label, a recording studio, a music publishers and an export operation.
And since then, almost everything he has touched has turned to gold – like choosing Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells as the first Virgin Records release.
In 1984, he took Virgin Atlantic from concept to take-off in a matter of months. He also once even dared to challenge Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola with his own Virgin Cola.
“For people who want the adventure side, there’s plenty of times I’ve tried to kill myself – they should be directed to those chapters,” he says.
“For people who want to learn about entrepreneurism, they should go to those chapters, for people who want to learn about family life, they should go to those chapters. But there’s lots for everybody.
“I did the book, obviously for my grandchildren, great grandchildren and children. I think everybody has a book inside them, everybody leaves a fascinating life, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done in life, if people keep notes about their lives, they should write a book for their family.”
Going back down memory lane made Sir Richard, who has been married to his wife Joan for over three decades, reflect on the many exciting and interesting moments in his life.
“It was great to have those memories flood back again, some good, some not so good,” he says.
“I think I wrote the book as a warts and all tale by the individual himself, because I think books are much more interesting if they’re written with everything in it.
“It has the failures, the successes, the struggles, the near death experiences, the falls, the trips to hospital. Anyway, everything rolled into one and hopefully, as a result, it’s quite an exciting read.”
The audiobook also explores the groundbreaking journey of Virgin Galactic in July 2021, which Sir Richard hailed as the “experience of a lifetime” after flying to the edge of space aboard the first fully crewed flight.
“When I was reading the book, at one stage I just said this guy is certifiably mad… Why didn’t he learn just to say no, ” he says smiling, adding: “I mean I’m known as ‘Doctor Yes’ at Virgin, I’ve been born just to say yes.
“Yes is a lot more fun than saying no and it has gotten me into a lot of trouble – I’m extraordinarily lucky to be sitting here talking to you today. But it does make for good storytelling, a lot more interesting than not saying yes.”
His action-packed adventures don’t stop at space, and this year will see the Strive Challenge, held in aid of Big Change – a charity founded by his children Holly and Sam and his nephew Noah – take place on his Caribbean property, Necker Island.
The Strive Challenge, which Sir Richard has previously credited with “kickstarting” his own fitness program when it first started in 2014, will see participants tackling a “cycle extravaganza around the infamous Virgin Gorda circuit” and also includes kayaking, snorkelling, hiking, kitesurfing and more.
Reminiscing about the first event, Sir Richard recalls: “I had to get up an hour before everybody else, because they’re all in their 20s and quite young.
“And I would come back about an hour later than everybody else. But by the end of it, I was so fit. And I just decided I love the feeling of being incredibly fit and so I’ve kept it up ever since”.
His own fitness regime sees him keep active every day.
“Twice a week, I do extreme bike riding on the island next to Necker Island, I play tennis every morning and every evening,” he says.
“I kite surf regularly, pop into the gym, pretty well, every day. So find, three or four hours a day for physical activities, which I enjoy”.
He has been known to write letters throughout his life, to his loved ones and to himself. In 2018 he shared on his blog a letter to his younger self about his dyslexia, in which he wrote: “Being different is your biggest asset and will help you succeed.”
Asked about the letter he’d write himself now, he says: “I would say that honestly, I wouldn’t change anything. I’ve had the ride of a lifetime.
“I’ve definitely been born under a lucky star. And that star has guided me out of moments where I shouldn’t have really come come back to be able to tell the tale.
“I don’t think there’s anything I would change, even taking on Coca-Cola and ultimately failing. All those different sorts of battles have been all part of the incredible life learning process.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate. I think all of us who become, have been successful, we’ve all been very, very fortunate. And I’ve definitely got a lot to be thankful for”.
You can listen to the audiobook of Losing and Finding My Virginity right now, wherever you get your audiobooks. It’s also available via Virgin Red.
