Richard Branson: 45 Life Changing Teachings from Richard Branson about Life and Business In 1966, a sixteen-year-old school dropout, a dyslexic, started off as an entrepreneur and tried new things despite his inexperience and lack of knowledge. Today he is a well-known business magnate who launched the Virgin Records in 1973. The Virgin group currently, has over 400 companies in about 30 countries across the world. This young boy who I am referring to is – Richard Branson, commonly referred to a Sir Richard Branson