Richard's Blog - April 2012

Challenge for a young entrepreneur

A young entrepreneur called Josh Taylor asked me on Twitter recently to set him a challenge. He has already successfully built a space balloon that filmed the earth from 118,000 feet – as you can see in the impressive video above. Well Josh, here’s your new challenge. As well as exploring space with Virgin Galactic, we are looking forward to heading to the bottom of the ocean with Virgin Oceanic. So, you've explored 118,000 high with your space balloon, but how far u…

Kitesurf piggyback!

Getting in some kitesurfing practice ahead of our next attempt at kitesurfing across the Channel later this year. We’re going to do a 28 mile kiting run if the wind behaves this weekend. To spur me on I thought I’d carry Susi-Mae here along for the ride. Backbreaking work, but someone's got to do it!

Good luck Virgin London Marathon runners!

The eyes of the world are on London for a huge summer of sport, and it all starts this weekend with the Virgin London Marathon. If you are running the marathon, congratulations for taking on such a great challenge and the very best of luck to you.When I ran the Virgin London Marathon (dressed as a butterfly!) it was one of the best days of my life. The crowd is absolutely fantastic. The support, noise and enthusiasm really do make all the difference, so if you are spectating make yourself heard!…

Flying baby gorillas to Africa

We helped reintroduce some baby gorillas into the wild in Africa, where their numbers have dwindled due to poaching. Here are some photos of them on the plane on the way down. We'll post a photo of the baby six months later in the African bush soon.

Investing in Path

Invested in a fantastic personal network called Path recently. The reason I am interested in Path is because it is a beautiful looking site for people who really want to stay in touch with family and friends. It has become very popular with those who want a slightly more intimate social network. Dave Morin, the Co-Founder and CEO of Path is one of the geniuses who helped set up Facebook in the early days. It’s great seeing so many innovative new ways to communicate, including the likes of …

Act now to save the rhinos

Disturbed to see continuing crisis in poaching of rhinos highlighted by WildAid’s Peter Knights here.   Incredibly, 448 rhinos were illegally killed in South Africa in 2011 – that’s one killed every 20 hours. With fewer than 5,000 black rhinos left in the world, at this rate every rhino will be gone within ten years. Demand for rhino horn comes almost entirely from China and Vietnam, where many believe it cures ailments from cancer to hangovers.  It does not…

Ask Richard 18

Here are a few more video answers to your questions, this time on choosing the right career, dyslexia, holidays and regrets...Dave MacGregor on Google+ -  Richard, After quiet a few years chopping and changing careers.. How would you advise someone to find a career to stick in? I would just like to say what a fantastic inspiration for us dyslexics!Phil Halfhill on Virgin.com - What are your favorite sunny areas to vacation that you would recommend?James Burtt on Facebook - What, if any, b…

Duelling with Zach Galifianakis

Was in the US doing a speech at Colgate University, sharing ideas with all the students there.Whilst there I did some fun filming with Zach Galifianakis of The Hangover fame in New York. Having a conversation with him is quite challenging, it’s like a duel. I have no idea where he is coming from or where he is going to go next. Fortunately I had a good book to read when his questions went straight over the top of my head!Anyway, you might just be able to see it on Zach’s show Between…

Set an example to the world

Two months ago when Donald Trump's children stood proudly over large animals they'd killed in Africa, their family lost enormous credibility in the world.How incredibly sad therefore to see the pictures of the king of Spain standing over a dead elephant he'd shot. The world had enormous respect for the king and how sad he doesn't realise that he'll get so much more pleasure in seeing animals alive than seeing them dead.Hopefully he now realises how important it is to set an example to the world,…

In Spain (without a passport!)

In Spain today. We left the passports in England, but one of the advantages of being a recognisable face is I somehow managed to blabber my way into the country!Thankfully Sarah Wiffen from the team at Virgin Active UK was flying out to Spain for the opening of the Madrid Capitán Haya, our 14th health club here, and has brought the passports!Spain is having severe unemployment issues. They were building a million houses a year and that has dropped to 50,000. This has resulted in enormous …

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