Richard Branson

Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin empire which includes companies like Virgin Trains, Virgin Airlines and Virgin Music (sold to EMI in 1992 for £510 million). His personal wealth is put at £2.4 billion. He was knighted by Tony Blair in the 2000 New Year's Honours List. Despite the fact that Branson's solely-owned companies are actually losing money, in May 2000 the Virgin Group was paid £35,000 by the Department of Health for advice on how to make the NHS more 'consumer-friendly'.