foreign things are about to get wild and cruising will never be the same again but then what
would you expect from the ultimate disrupter whether it's music Airlines or space travel
Richard Branson has never been afraid to challenge the status quo but as David Koch discovered
at 73 The Cheeky billionaire is in a reflective mood and what he has to say is both thoughtful
and very thought-provoking [Applause] [Music]
foreign [Applause] [Music]
[Music]
[Music] this reminds me of uh there was a wonderful Aviator called the pretty Laker
when I got it he had prostate cancer and he told me Richard you know you're 40 years old
and you've really got to go to the doctor uh get him to put his finger and check you
out he said just but make sure he doesn't have both hands on your shoulder when he doesn't
[Music] thank you
come through and see me see what your headlights how's your morning been good very very very
very very very nice thank you right now I could end up with a massage with this thank
you
you never buy things you always create from scratch that's true why I think creating things
from scratch means you can you're not you're not inheriting all this sort of uh history
and problems that come with with buying something if you create something from scratch you couldn't
generally speak and get it right what are you passionate about outside of the business
and family I'm passionate about um creating things that will um make make a difference
in the world because I've I think I've learned the skills of uh creating businesses and uh
but now I create organizations to tackle different different issues in this world so whether
it's climate change whether it's conflict resolution issues whether it's drug reform
whether it's trying to abolish the death penalty um uh you know whether it's sort of monitoring
the planetary boundaries on the of the Earth two one [Music] fire fire
so you must have a really strong value set that you guide your life by I hope so I mean
I think one's reputation in life is all we have and that's it really
for more than five decades Richard Branson has been captain of the Virgin brand he's
often high risk high profile stunts have built an Empire and made him billions [Music] his
latest Venture is cruise ships
[Music]
thank you okay and probably now this is called Richard's Lounge he's the familiar face of
Virgin hi everybody [Music] hi welcome welcome welcome welcome um if anybody wants to take
the elevator I'm afraid I do my day your exercise yeah but he actually doesn't run any of the
businesses he sort of franchises his name to each of them and that's how he makes his
money currently the Virgin group consists of 300 companies employs 30 000 people across
30 countries
thank you
Australians are great Cruisers but we normally get the really old ships that the other cruise
liners sort of send down from Europe This is a brand new Shepherd yeah uh I think it'll
not knock Australia right between the eyes
thank you [Music] this is the resilient lady the ship that will be based in Australia sixty
thousand tons 17 stories and no kids or grandkids your beauty [Music]
but what I wanted to do was create a cruise company that was like an abramovision yacht
you know for people to be able to go and use with the absolute best restaurants in the
world on it the best entertainment the best crew the most fun fun crew you know they're
just a cruise coming with lots of magic
[Laughter] we're gonna have to get you some additional training but yeah that's okay no
problem at all I was looking over the shoulder of one of your staff reading an email from
you when we got off the ship and there was a list of things that needed to be improved
I felt a bit rude looking over his shoulder
because that when you go to Every business yes no I I you're a list type person that
you'll say right I'm I'm I am a list type person but it's more I'm a detail person um
so and I just try to explain that I think that there's most airlines are average they're
managing directors most likely flying on a private plane and they're not actually flying
on their on the airline and experiencing it most cruise ships are average because I suspect
you know the chief executive is not out there experiencing it up [Applause] [Music]
oh
yeah everybody good
everybody good
want to go to Santorini foreign
[Music]
[Music] so you're a constant secret shopper for your own businesses must drive your Executives
mad does it I suspect a little bit [Music] I think I've always been absolutely Blown
Away about my dad is that it doesn't matter whether he's speaking to a president or whether
it's a taxi driver in a foreign country and we've just landed he gives them the same amount
of time as an individual and as a human being
you know it's just life I mean he's been doing what he's been doing since he was 16 so for
him his passion is his work his work as his life his life is his Adventure I I can't I
can't separate virgin from my dad or from our family or from life you know it's just
we was brought up with him
tonight
[Music] this is his new luxury resort on Majorca Island in Spain 25 years ago I was standing
uh just to just just up up there looking down at an old ruin which was here and looking
at three miles of this beautiful pristine Coastline with uh 15 000 Olive Groves and
a Vineyard and adjust something which was breathtakingly beautiful and I decided that
you know be incredible to try to rescue the ruin and and turn it into a small boutique
hotel
the whole team are really proud of what they've created it's really lovely
can you hear me oh it's good isn't it
on the outside you're this flamboyant almost Playboy Type image but you've been with the
same woman for 48 years I mean it's it's a relationship based on trust you know she'll
have her way of expressing it is she'll let the lead out a bit and then she knows exactly
when to hook it back again and so you know we can we can we can have fun we can dance
with other people but but we've got you you've got that basic trust and and you know I just
wouldn't want to cause any hurt and she wouldn't want to cause any hurt and and so it's worked
um so we've been lucky [Music] while the world loved his high risk Adventures his kids were
paying the price my dad's going off in a balloon and I don't know if he's going to come home
big impact isn't it I hadn't I hadn't realized until you mentioned it
Richard Branson is known for his success stunts and sense of adventure but every time he puts
his life on the line his family especially his son was paying the price they were terrified
at the prospect of losing him but never told him now Richard Branson is about to learn
the confronting truth
you know my dad's going off and trying to break world records and he's an adventurer
and you know and on the other side just my dad's going off in a balloon and I don't know
if he's going to come home [Music] talking to your son Sam the love he expressed for
you and Joan was quite extraordinary but then he said he could have lost you at such a young
age
[Music]
it's taken me till my you know late 30s and and it's quite a lot of personal processing
to kind of realize you know the the challenges that that brought for me and people expected
him to die at times in those balloons yeah I remember sneaking into his capsule before
he went off leaving a note saying dad I love you please come home
that's a big impact is that I hadn't I hadn't realized until you mentioned it I think and
you notice I'm talking a lot here I tried to try to analyze analyze how selfish I was
I think the I think the fact that I had a wife who was so wonderful with the kids and
who I knew would you know would would be able to cope cope with bringing them up it made
me feel less selfish
so I know some people watching this program would think what a selfish person others would
have made the maybe will understand but it's it's um uh but I think if if if if we don't
if we don't try to push the limits I think the world would be a poor replacement
that more than 2 200 kilometers per hour across the Atlantic Ocean
on just north of the Irish Coast it's to a thousand feet Richard and co-pilot Pierre
linstrod were in serious trouble the journey ended dramatically when Richard and pear had
no option but to LEAP from their balloon into the ocean facing death in a crisis situation
you just feel an enormous enormous loneliness and were you scared
not scared per se I was determined to uh as I always am in crisis like that to do everything
I could to um to get out of the situation
you know I scribbled a note that I love them love them very much and then put my mind to
the parachute jump in into the cold North Sea and I remember Standing On Top of the
balloon looking down at the swirling Cloud clouds below um realizing it was the last
few seconds of my life most likely because you know parachuting into a freezing sea the
chances of survival was almost nil
[Music] I'm four years older than my brother so I remember always sort of being the stronger
one my brother would be in pieces crying all the time and I remember trying to be like
like trying to be the strong one even though inside I was in turmoil about him about to
do these big trips the Lifeboat has picked up Richard Branson and the helicopter has
taken him off and he's receiving medical attention we've all been lost yes [Music] being affected
to that extent by my ballooning and boating I hadn't I hadn't realized until you mentioned
it and and anyway hopefully he's hopefully he's over it now
[Music]
Adventurer and part of my life you know spent time in the Arts I can go off and climb mountains
and and so I I although I can see there's an element of it which is like how could you
do that with two small children I'm you know a dad of two kids and I just couldn't do something
that was that dangerous [Music]
you know I get this drive and desire to explore and how important that is and that quote that
my dad loves saying which is what is it the um the brave may not live forever but the
coaches do not live at all [Applause] I believe that [Music] a fascinating man and you can
find an extended version of our interview with Richard Branson at 7news.com [Music]