Sir Richard Branson thought ‘we were going to lose everything’ in pandemic

20 comments
  1. Oh dear, this will go down like a lead balloon on this sub.

    I think it’s important to remember the thousands employed by these businesses.

  2. And let’s not forget that Dyson took hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies, then f***** off to Singapore all paid for by the taxpayer. Richard Branson isn’t the only one that held his hand out to the government during the pandemic he’s is in good company in that respect but at least he’s been very open and honest and over the years injected a bit of humor and adventure into the way he’s run his businesses

  3. Branson is a serial tax dodger and has been convicted of avoiding tax in the past, and runs his companies through a series of off shore companies.

    At the time he was talking about his net worth was $3.4 billion dollars, and only a few years before it topped $5 billion. He could have easily sold some assets to keep them afloat but he’d rather use someone else’s money.

    Typical billionaire privatise the profits, avoid tax and when a loss hits wants to socialise it by getting a government handout.

  4. “I thought I’d have to live like a regular person”, weeped the billionaire. “Thankfully, I’m still stinking rich” he smiled.

    Why is this a story?

  5. I will never understand why we all agreed to a system where most of us do all the work and then a tiny number of us who don’t work get most of the benefits of that work.

  6. It is really difficult to have sympathy for someone whining that they could have been down to their last billion quid or so if things hadn’t worked out so well.

    I’m not sure that his idea of “losing everything” is quite the same as everyone else’s.

  7. Let him say that to a room full of ICU nurses, widows/widowers, small business owners (who did lose their business) and whoever else did lose that which they hold dear. He might have come close to losing something, however he can just sell his private island and still be set for life. If he wants to not worry about losing everything, maybe he should stop with his stupid, failing space businesses.

  8. “The fastest way to become a millionaire is to start with a billion and invest in airlines.”

    – Richard Branson

  9. I would have loved it if we had lost him and his almost spaceship during the pandemic. This man is an absolute Frey Bentos steak and kidney pudding of a man – disgusting

  10. Having worked for the airline then it was hard, but with all his sacrifices the management were still giving themselves HUGE bonuses!!!!!! Richard is a lovely guy I met him once. I feel bad for him.

  11. Yep. I saw a very real, albeit admittedly small, likelihood that I would lose the single thing that every last one of my worldly possessions hinges on.

    My life.

    I don’t own anything at all if I’m dead. And I certainly will be one day. I’m trying to put that off, of course, but I won’t pretend life’s not basically the only thing thing I’ll never be willing to lose

  12. The thought of enduring Amumble Rajan interviewing a butthurt billionaire who made the pandemic all about him is not worth the popups and sliding doors of navigation on the BBC website no thanks.

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