[News Inside] A Dyslexic Boy Who Dreamed of Being a Reporter Becomes a Billionaire Going on Space Tourism

Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group

▲Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Galactic (third from the right) [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] An airline CEO dressed as a stewardess, a 'quirky billionaire' who does not hesitate to perform half-naked for publicity

That is Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group.

Known for his unpredictable moves and holding various titles including 'quirky billionaire,' Branson is set to challenge space travel at the age of 70 on the 11th (Eastern Time, USA), earning the title of 'the first billionaire to travel to space as a tourist.'

▲Richard Branson [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

◆Quirky billionaire becomes the first billionaire to travel to space at age 70= British billionaire Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, is scheduled to embark on his first space tourism flight tonight. It has been 17 years since he founded the private space travel company Virgin Galactic in 2004.

At 9 a.m. on the 11th (Eastern Time, USA; 11 p.m. Korean time), Branson will board Virgin Galactic's supersonic rocket plane 'VSS Unity' at the Spaceport America launch site in New Mexico, USA. Accompanying him will be two pilots and three Virgin Galactic astronauts. Virgin Galactic has prepared a live broadcast page on YouTube and announced that everyone can join from an hour before the flight.

The VSS Unity is carried by a launch vehicle named VMS Eve to about 16 km altitude, then separates and accelerates to Mach 3, entering space at approximately 91 km altitude. At this point, passengers experience about six minutes of weightlessness while observing Earth, then return to the launch site at Mach 3 speed. Branson's spaceflight is expected to last about 14 to 17 minutes.

This journey is significant as it crosses the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space, known as the 'Karman line.' NASA awards astronaut badges to those who fly above 80 km altitude.

When founding Virgin Galactic, Branson expressed his ambition to provide flights below orbit for scientists and space tourists. The initial flight was planned for 2009 but did not proceed as scheduled. In 2014, a crash during the first test flight resulted in the death of one pilot and serious injury to another, halting test flights until 2016.

Test flights resumed this year, and on May 22, the first space tourism test flight succeeded. The flight on the 11th will set a record as the first to carry a full complement of passengers.

▲Richard Branson [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

◆Billionaire leaving for space travel faster than Bezos and Musk= Coincidentally, nine days later, Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man and founder of Amazon, will board the exploration rocket of his private space company 'Blue Origin.'

Bezos chose the date to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of Apollo 11's moon landing, adding significance. On the 20th, he will fly to space aboard Blue Origin's 'New Shepard' from the Texas desert. Although Bezos departs later than Branson and has a shorter flight, he will fly higher. Bezos will experience about 10 minutes of spaceflight, riding in a manned capsule separated from the rocket, ascending above 100 km, and descending with parachutes to land on the ground.

Another billionaire venturing into space exploration, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, plans to send four civilians on a spacecraft orbiting Earth in September. Musk has stated that reaching space and traveling to a farther orbit are very different, rating Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin as a level below SpaceX.

▲Richard Branson [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

◆Dyslexic boy earns 70 million won from first business...shows exceptional business sense= Branson was born in 1950 in London, England, as the eldest of three siblings to a lawyer father and a ballerina mother. He has recalled that his mother greatly influenced his interest in space travel. His mother, Eve Branson, disguised herself as a man to receive training and fly planes at a time when only men could become pilots.

His mother also passed on her spirit of challenge. Branson started his first business at age nine and published a magazine at fifteen. Despite severe dyslexia, he dreamed of becoming a journalist and founded the magazine 'Student' to write about social issues such as the Vietnam War and education. Through this, he earned 2,500 pounds (about 70 million won in today's value) from advertising revenue, demonstrating his exceptional business acumen from a young age.

He later entered the music business, bypassing large record companies with distribution networks by marketing and distributing directly, successfully making Mike Oldfield's album a global hit. Virgin Records grew into a major British record label, thanks to successes with artists like the Sex Pistols, Culture Club, and The Human League.

Once the music business was on track, Branson ventured into the airline business, motivated by his mother who was a flight attendant and his frequent flying on business trips.

Although his record company was only 12 years old when he entered the capital-intensive airline business, Branson was called reckless but did not give up. This led to the birth of Virgin Atlantic. While others predicted it would not survive more than a year, Branson successfully led the airline by providing the best service from the customer's perspective.

Building on this experience, Branson expanded his business into railways, mobile communications, finance, hotels, retail, health clubs, beverages, weddings, sports, and even space travel.

▲Richard Branson (center)

◆So what if he's a show-off? His eccentricities continue= Negative labels such as 'a quirky billionaire who spends his business earnings only on pleasure' and 'attention seeker' are often attached to him. However, he proudly embraces these. He says that without challenge and fun, he would not have amassed such enormous wealth.

"If there's something you want to do, just try it. The primary purpose of my business has never been simply to make money. I enjoyed the business itself, and the money just followed."

Billionaire Branson, who is embarking on space travel at age 70, is a figure whose future moves are eagerly anticipated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.