'Risk-taking' Branson battles to protect Virgin brand

LONDON,

Richard Branson sometimes quietly ditches failing investments but the British entrepreneur's flagship space tourism venture is so high-profile and under such intense scrutiny that some observers say the test flight crash could damage his Virgin empire.

The fatal explosion that brought down Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo could damage the reputational standing of his sprawling Virgin Group, which encompasses more than 400 companies in multiple sectors.

Hundreds of VIPs, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Demi Moore, are said to have put down a $250,000 (200,000 euro) deposit on a space flight — and if they pull out, it could spark a chain reaction.

Risk-taking has always been part of Branson's business entrepreneurism and personal adventurism.

"Nobody underestimates the risks involved in space travel," Branson insisted after Friday's crash.

"Pushing the bounds of knowledge and possibility comes with unavoidable risk."

REPUTATION AT RISK

The 64-year-old tycoon had hoped to take the first commercial flight, planned for four months' time.

British newspaper The Times said Tuesday that Branson was facing a damaging accusation: "That his pioneering space tourism company had become a triumph of public relations with an unproven and potentially lethal spacecraft attached."

Financial Times writer John Gapper said Branson was both a "risk-taking, publicity-seeking adventurer" and a "hard-headed private entrepreneur" and it was "foolish" of him to have mixed up these personas in Virgin Galactic.

He suggested there was "one potential escape route": recouping some of the investment by focusing on its plan to launch satellites and space ships rather than risky tourist flights.

Branson's biographer Tom Bower warned that Branson's personal standing — so often indelibly intertwined with his investments — was now on the line.

"Branson heading for space was going to be the Last Great Hurrah for the Virgin Superman, confirming the genius of the Virgin brand and embellishing the myth of Branson the Superhero," he wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.

"Instead of global glory, Branson is now scrabbling for survival. Not only is his Virgin brand at risk, so too is his personal reputation."

Branson has bounced back from business failures in the past, including Virgin Cola and Virgin Megastores.

But he is already facing hostile press in Britain for relocating to the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven.

He has owned Necker Island in the archipelago since 1978 but in recent times has declared his Caribbean getaway as his main residence rather than mainland Britain.

FLAMBOYANT STUNTS

Shy in person and hesitant when speaking, Branson — dyslexic, twice married with two surviving children — has built a vast business empire.

A knight of the realm, The Sunday Times newspaper's Rich List 2014 ranks him the 23rd-richest person in Britain, with a £3.6 billion ($5.8 billion, 4.6 billion euro) fortune.
Virgin Group encompasses companies dealing in everything from trains, wines and music labels to mobile phones, airlines and banking.

Branson's typical modus operandi is to throw the Virgin name into existing markets as a fresh, upstart rival offering better customer service.

Few of Branson's ventures have been complete without some attention-grabbing launch featuring the boss himself.

One eye-catching stunt was when Branson shaved off his goatee beard and donned a wedding dress and make-up to announce Virgin Brides, an ill-fated wedding company.

Branson has also set a series of aviation and nautical adventure records, although he failed, despite numerous attempts, to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a balloon.

Branson began young, launching a student-aimed magazine while still at private school before setting up Virgin Records aged just 20.

His breakthrough came with "Tubular Bells", a 1973 instrumental album by British progressive rock act Mike Oldfield that sold millions of copies and made Branson a wealthy man.

The record label was sold off in 1992, but by that time Branson had already branched out into aviation, setting up Virgin Atlantic in 1984 and building it into Britain's second-biggest airline.

Much of Branson's publicity has been fuelled by his adventuring, in which he has tackled a number of trans-oceanic records in a speedboat, a balloon and an amphibious car.

These exploits brought Branson close to tragedy in 1998, when he and his co-pilot had to ditch their balloon in the Pacific Ocean after low pressure forced the craft down.