Featured Image Credit: Robin Marchant/Getty Images for SiriusXM/DR/SP/Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Topics: Business, Celebrity, Money, Richard Branson, Travel
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Business, Celebrity, Money, Richard Branson, Travel
Richard Branson is a very rich man for a reason.
Branson founded Virgin Records in 1970 and went on to sign huge music acts like The Rolling Stones and Sex Pistols.
By 1973, his record label had expanded to the US.
Fast forward to today and Branson has expanded into almost every business possible having launched Virgin Games, Virgin Atlantic airline, Virgin Publishing, Virgin Money and Virgin Media.
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With his umpteen business ventures in mind, Branson is now worth a staggering $2.6 billion, as per Forbes.
But the 74-year-old hasn't always been rolling in cash; in fact, he was first turned away when he tried to purchase Necker Island.
The 30-hectare island in the British Virgin Islands and, of course, Branson was drawn to them became of the name.
After learning that he could potentially own one of the islands, Branson was keen to get one. However, he didn't have his multibillionaire status at the time.
In 1978, Branson got wind that one was up for sale so he contacted the relator to express his interest.
The reason he wanted to do this? To impress a girl, of course.
"I had been madly trying to come up with a way to impress a girl I had fallen for, so I rang up the realtor, and expressed my interest," Branson penned in a blog published in 2015.
"We were still in the early days of Virgin Records, and I by no means had the cash to buy an island. Luckily, the realtor didn’t know this and offered me an all expenses paid trip to see the Islands that weekend.
"I agreed to go on one condition – if I could bring a guest."
The girl he was trying to win over at the time agreed to go on the trip with Branson, who ultimately 'fell in love' with the island.
But reality soon set in when he was told the asking price of the island - a whopping $6 million.
"Smitten with the unspoilt paradise, and keen to impress my new love, I offered the highest amount I could afford: $100,000," Branson recalled.
"As you can imagine, the realtor was less than impressed, and left us high and dry to find our own way back home."
A year later, Necker Island was still on the market and the owner was reportedly 'desperate to sell'.
Virgin Records was in a stronger position at that point, so Branson returned to the relator and offered $180,000 instead.
By means of a miracle, the seller agreed to the heavily discounted offer on the condition that Branson 'build a resort on the Island within four years'.
And purchasing the island wasn't Bransons only win. The girl he first took with him to view it ended up becoming his wife, with the pair tying the knot on Necker Island 11 years later.
Branson married Joan Templeman in 1989, and the pair remain married to this day.