Branson: Behind the Mask (35 page)

“This can happen quickly and smoothly …”’
Financial
Times,
26 May 2011.

‘Two years later, the regulators ordered …’ 27 May 2011.

‘After Virgin Money invested £37.3 million …’
Financial
Times,
30 January 2010.

‘After the FSA, the government regulator …’ 7 April 2010.

‘Branson offered less than £400 million …’ 6 May 2010.

‘RBS rejected his bid …’ Bloomberg, 7 May and 4 August 2010.

‘Buying the Lloyds branches was …’ Reuters, 25 July 2011.

‘“We’ve come to Australia …”’
The
Age,
30 July 2010;
Sydney
Morning
Herald,
30 July 2010.

‘The business was later reported …’
Australian
Financial
Review,
2 February 2009.

‘The lure was promises of lower interest rates …’
Sydney
Morning
Herald,
28 July 2010; other source: 23 September 2010.

‘Despite his repeated claims of success …’ 10 April 2013.

The remaining prize was Northern Rock …’
Financial
Times,
5 January 2013.

‘Unconcerned by Gordon Brown’s distress …’
Guardian,
16 February 2010.

‘“It would be dangerous …”’
Evening
Standard,
16
February 2010.

‘In 2009/10, Virgin Group Holdings had paid …’ 29 July 2011.

‘For the same reason, his second …’ Richard Branson,
Screw
Business
as
Usual
(Virgin Books), p. 87.

‘Bids were invited for the bank’s …’
Guardian,
25 December 2010.

‘The government’s price of about …’ National Audit Office report, 18 May 2012. p. 208 ‘With no other bidder …’
Daily
Mail,
20 November 2011.

‘Baxby praised “a very charismatic founder …”’
The
Australian,
24 December 2011.

‘“That isn’t the way it should …”’ Showbiznews, 27 September 2012.

‘In New York, he told his audience about …’ Reuters, 1 December 2011;
Wall
Street
Journal,
7 December 2011.

‘Branson’s purchase of Northern Rock would …’ Richard Branson,
Screw
Business
as
Usual
(Virgin Books), p. 129.

‘Back in the UK and dressed in …’
Northern
Echo,
10 January 2012.

‘“Our customers”, he said …’
Financial
Times,
10 January 2012;
Independent,
10 December 2012.

‘Virgin Money announced charges on current accounts …’ 13 December 2012.

‘In
Screw
Business,
he had criticised …’ Richard Branson,
Screw
Business
as
Usual
(Virgin Books), p. 131.

‘Together they amounted to over …’
Guardian,
23 November 2011.

‘“This is of course complete garbage …”’ 23 November 2011.

‘Other than pledging to offer …’ 27 June 2013.

‘Within hours of the announcement …’
Sunday
Times,
14 October 2012.

‘Previously, Branson had offered …’
The
Times,
27 June 2013.

‘The report, “Customer Service in the NHS” …’ http://socialinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/labour-used-virgin-restricted-report-to.html.

‘Slightly more helpful was Virgin Active …’ 7 February 2011.

‘After studying medicine for five years, Branson’s …’ 28 July 2008.

‘Branson wanted his daughter …’
Financial
Times,
21 October 2012.

‘Fearing the erosion of the brand’s …’
New
Zealand
Herald,
22 October 2012.

‘By the end, about 200 doctors …’
Guardian,
9 April 2008.

‘Virgin, said Branson, would be …’ 4 March 2010.

‘In
Screw
Business
as
Usual
he wrote that health …’ Richard Branson,
Screw
Business
as
Usual
(Virgin Books), p. 179.

‘Biopsies of suspected skin cancers …’ 25 March 2011.

‘patients discovered that Virgin was employing …’ ‘Skin Complaints’,
Private
Eye,
April 2011.

‘Based on Assura’s network …’
Guardian,
7 January 2013.

‘The budget was £500 million.’ 7 April 2012.

‘An objection by the mother …’
Guardian,
8 October 2012.

‘GPs would continue to provide …’ 25 October 2012.

‘The only profiteers were …’
The
Times,
5 December 2012.

‘“Global drug strategy should …”’
Globe
and
Mail,
26 April 2012.

‘After all, in the past he had admitted …’
Daily
Mail,
25 January 2012.

‘Since the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes …’ BBC, 31 May 2013.

‘Against the backdrop of the ferocious drugs war …’
Guardian,
4 June 2011

‘“Stop criminal penalties for people who use drugs …”’
Globe
and
Mail,
26 April 2012

‘In Portugal, they replied, decriminalisation had caused …’ The Portuguese Institute for Drugs and Drug Addiction found cocaine use increased from 0.9 per cent to 1.9 per cent between 2001 and 2007.

‘The actual United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime …’ Kathy Gyngell, 19 September 2011. 4.8 per cent of the population take drugs once a year and just 0.6 per cent of the population, or 210 million people, are permanent abusers.

‘On one interpretation, the UN’s report …’ Kathy Gyngell, 19 April 2013.

‘They accused him of wishful thinking.’ Kathy Gyngell, 4 July 2013.

‘The fall in consumption in Britain …’
The
Times,
17 June 2013.

‘In January 2012, Branson was quoted …’
Daily
Mail,
25 January 2012.

‘In a letter to Kathy Gyngell …’ Letter to Kathy Gyngell, 6 December 2011.

‘Ultimately, the committee’s report in 2013 …’ 10 December 2012; 21 January 2012.

‘With unhesitating certainty, he described …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
8 December 2009.

‘No fewer than 50,000 people …’
New
York
Times,
27 May 2009.

‘“We’ve had very rapid growth …”’ 3 December 2009.

‘Although Lovelock preached …’
LA
Times,
6 July 2009.

‘On the contrary, Whitehorn told
Flight
International
…’
Daily
Telegraph,
8 January 2009.

‘He even repeated his unequivocal description …’
New
York
Times,
27 May 2009.

‘The justification, said Richardson …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
4 January 2009.

‘Murphy pitched a scenario of Abu Dhabi …’ 26 December 2009.

‘At the end of July 2009 …’
Independent,
1 August 2009.

‘“This has been one of the most incredible …”’ ibid.

‘“When will you do the first trip …”’ Sky News, 8 December 2009.

‘Three months later, Reuters headlined a dispatch …’  Reuters, 4 March 2010.

‘Shortly after, the news agency reported …’ 23 March 2010.

‘“We’re eighteen months away …”’ Dow Jones, 27 September 2010.

‘News of the ten-minute glide …’ 11 October 2010.

‘“We’ll be flying from here in nine to …”’ Associated Press, 23 October 2010.

‘XCOR, the small neighbouring …’ 31 January 2010.

‘“It’s just like launching Virgin Atlantic …”’ 27 April 2011.

‘A year later, he told another interviewer …’
Forbes,
19 September 2012.

p ‘In the aftermath, others accused him …’ Tom Bower,
Branson
(HarperCollins), pp. 56, 63.

‘For years Branson had asserted …’
New
York
Times,
27 May 2009.

‘To dampen the dispute …’ 23 November 2010.

‘Branson presented the expedition …’
LA
Times,
5 April 2011.

‘Nevertheless, posing with Welsh …’ 5 April 2011.

‘“If I were to guarantee anything …”’ Fox TV, 28 April 2011.

‘The glide would be managed …’ 4 May 2011.

‘Virgin Unite and Galactic Unite, he said …’
Seattle
Times,
15 October 2011.

‘“The tail stall was a nail-biter …”’
Space
Safety,
3 October 2011.

‘“In 2012, we will have our first commercial …”’ Space.com, 29 December 2010.

‘“The rocket tests are going extremely well …”’ Agence France-Presse, 14 September 2011.

‘“We are now very close to making …”’ Space.com, 29 December 2010.

‘“Peter Pan is my favourite character …”’ 27 April 2011.

‘Branson’s publicists had arranged a stunt …’
LA
Times,
18 October 2011; BBC, 18 October 2011.

‘The expected 140,000 tourists …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
2 September 2011.

‘To limit the taxpayers’ exposure …’ 23 February 2011.

‘One week later, David Mackay …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
26 October 2011.

‘The company would need to spend billions …’ 21 April 2012.

‘The actor, said Branson …’ Associated Press, 21 March 2012.

‘Bassim Haidar, a Lebanese tycoon, wrote that …’
Daily
Express,
10 May 2012.

‘“In the suborbital area …”’
Daily
Record,
1 March 2012.

‘Virgin Galactic, said Pomerantz …’ April 2011.

‘Six weeks later, a “Global Aerospace” summit …’ 18 April 2012.

‘“I’m excited he’s here,” said Clinton …’ Bloomberg, 26 April 2012.

‘Before ending his partnership with Branson …’
Seattle
Times,
14 December 2011.

‘NASA paid Musk less than $50 million …’
St
Louis
Dispatch,
26 May 2012.

‘Musk’s $1.6 billion contract from NASA …’
LA
Times,
29 October 2012.

‘“In this field,” Branson said …’
Wired,
March 2013.

‘The following month, he flew to Mojave …’ 19 November 2012.

‘On one occasion, a motor had burst into flames …’ parabolicarc.com, 23 January 2013.

‘“You’ll find that prices have come down …”’ 16 May 2012.

‘Helped by Virgin’s publicists, the organisers explained …’
Vancouver
Sun,
2 May 2011.

‘Unite, he wrote in his book …’ Richard Branson,
Screw
Business
as
Usual
(Virgin Books), p. 69.

‘“I never saw myself as a business person …”’ interview with Denise Ryan,
Vancouver
Sun,
26 May 2012.

‘Virgin Records was not created to pay for …’ Tom Bower,
Branson
(HarperCollins), p. 2.

‘As he admitted in 1986, when his memory …’ ibid., p. 20.

‘“Those that continue with ‘business as usual’ …”’ interview ed with Jack Preston,
Daily
Telegraph,
23 November 2011; repeated by Geoff Lean,
Daily
Telegraph,
10 February 2012.

‘“One of the most devastating theories …”’ Richard Branson,
Screw
Business
as
Usual
(Virgin Books), p. 96.

‘To survive, he squeezed his costs …’ 2 March 2010.

‘He did not explain why travellers …’
Guardian,
25 October 2012.

‘“There will be an energy crisis …”’
New
York
Times,
22 April 2010.

‘The standard rate for paying guests …’ 12 April 2010.

‘United by their commercial relationship …’
New
York
Times,
20 September 2011.

‘Speaking to the converted in Manhattan …’
New
York
Times,
21 November 2010.

‘Financing, Khosla knew, depended on good relations …’
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution,
15 January 2012.

‘“I had the profile, the financial resources …”’
Wealth,
winter 2009.

‘Later that same day, he visited the White House.’
New
York
Times,
22 April 2010.

‘The US Air Force followed …’ Reuters, 16 July 2012.

‘His personal relationship with Obama …’
The
Atlantic,
17 March 2012.

‘“Recycling at its best,” said Branson …’
Sydney
Morning
Herald,
15 May 2013.

‘“Soon”, he said, LanzaTech’s process …’
Irish
Times,
28 October 2011.

‘Days later, Dr Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech’s …’ PR LanzaTech announcement, 11 October 2011;
Sydney
Morning
Herald,
23 April 2013.

‘The government lost $535 million …’
LA
Times,
28 September 2011.

‘Since Coca-Cola sold 1.7 billion drinks …’ 5 April 2012.

By December 2012, Khosla’s second investment …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
February 2011; quoted in
Atlanta
Journal-
Constitution,
15 January 2012.

‘The rate at which new oil reserves were …’
Gulf
News,
31 May 2012;
Financial
Times,
17 November 2012; other sources: 18 February 2010.

‘Huge forests in Indonesia were being burned …’ Friends of the Earth, 15 April 2013.

‘paradoxically, in
Screw
Business
as
Usual
Branson …’ Richard Branson,
Screw
Business
as
Usual
(Virgin Books), p. 238.

‘In 2011, Bulova named him …’ 25 March 2011.

‘After muted applause, Branson headed …’ 28 May 2012.

‘When Cameron finally won the race …’ Agence France-Presse, 26 March 2012.

‘At a party in a Jamaican restaurant …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
3 December 2011.

‘First, he said it was for Virgin’s …’ Reuters, 16 May 2003.

‘Eventually, it was advertised for hire …’
News
Ltd,
11 January 2013.

‘Instead, Mosquito remained “very much in …”’ 9 January 2009.

‘To add to the collection, he was “delighted …”’
The
Star
(Nairobi), 2 April 2012.

‘Membership cost $37,500 and …’
Guardian,
23 November 2009.

‘On the evening, the hotel’s rooms were empty …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
1 November 2010.

‘“If companies are trading in the UK …”’
Daily
Mail,
1 November 2012.

‘Businessmen, he believed, were better placed …’
Wall
Street
Journal,
28 May 2012.

‘“This situation”, he told his audience pointedly …’
Sunday
Times,
20 May 2012.

‘His support for StartUp Britain …’
Daily
Telegraph,
28 March 2011.

‘His advice mirrored his support …’
The
Times,
7 February 1998.

‘But with too many rivals …’
Financial
Times,
30 December 2012. The group was comprised of 187 clubs with 920,000 members. It was 76
per cent owned by Virgin Group; the remainder by Permira and Bridgepoint Capital,

‘Finally, a 51 per cent stake was sold …’ 14 October 2011.