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

Sir Richard Branson has said helium feared helium was going to suffer his full concern empire during the pandemic.

The British businessman said helium recovered a media backlash "painful" aft the Virgin Group asked the UK authorities for a indebtedness to prevention the company.

Given his idiosyncratic wealthiness and location connected a Caribbean island, helium was criticised for asking for a bailout erstwhile hose Virgin Atlantic deed trouble.

Sir Richard told the BBC helium personally mislaid astir £1.5bn during the pandemic.

The struggles to prevention his businesses near him "a small depressed" for a mates of months, helium said. "I'd ne'er experienced that earlier successful my life."

He explained: "We had 50, 60 planes each connected the ground, and the wellness clubs each closed, the hotels each closed. And the worst [case] would person been 60,000 radical retired connected the streets."

The enactment the institution requested was, helium said, "not gifts from government, but underwriting loans truthful the outgo to the airline... was not prohibitive."

The authorities refused his petition for a reported £500m bailout, however. A backstage rescue deal yet saw the Virgin Group inject £200m, with an further £1bn provided by investors and creditors.

"There was a clip erstwhile I thought we were going to suffer everything," Sir Richard said. "We sold shares successful companies that were nationalist and that was 1 mode we managed to find money."

In a wide-ranging interrogation with the BBC's Amol Rajan, Sir Richard besides discussed his selling campaigns and publicity stunts of the past - often involving glamorous women, who helium sometimes threw implicit his shoulder.

Asked if those stunts present made him wince, helium replied: "It would marque maine wince if I felt the women were uncomfortable astatine all.

"I don't deliberation that I ever made anybody consciousness uncomfortable. In those days, it made them smile... But contiguous obviously, I deliberation radical would consciousness uncomfortable with thing similar that.

"So it's changed and I afloat judge that. And I've changed alongside everybody else."

In 2021, Sir Richard achieved a lifelong ambition and reached the borderline of abstraction successful his Virgin Galactic commercialized abstraction plane. "It was 1 of those astir bonzer days, each facet of it", helium said.

He defended abstraction exploration arsenic a worthwhile investment, erstwhile asked whether launching rockets should beryllium a precedence for the ultra-rich, oregon is compatible with tackling clime alteration - a origin to which helium has devoted extended effort and money.

"Communication betwixt radical is being transformed due to the fact that of abstraction question and satellites up there," helium said. "Monitoring things similar the depredation of rainforests and amerciable fishing... [there are] each these kinds of benefits that travel from abstraction travel."

In caller years, Sir Richard has besides campaigned to beforehand consciousness of dyslexia, a word seldom utilized and adjacent little understood erstwhile helium dropped retired of schoolhouse astatine 15. He revealed that, soon aft being sent to boarding schoolhouse aged seven, helium was beaten truthful severely - "for being stupid" - that helium bled.

"It was... beauteous horrendous successful those days. And yes, arsenic a dyslexic, I thought I indispensable beryllium anserine due to the fact that they had ne'er heard of [it]. The connection dyslexic didn't exist."

As good arsenic dyslexia, Sir Richard thinks helium astir apt has attraction shortage disorder, and acknowledged helium does get bored easily.

At the property of 72, the businessman inactive heads the Virgin Group - but admitted helium does person thoughts astir succession planning.

"We person superior discussions arsenic a household astir however the institution tin alteration hopefully thousands people's lives successful the years to travel and hopefully successful the centuries to come," helium said.

Sir Richard Branson: Amol Rajan Interviews is connected BBC iPlayer