NextSharkNextShark.com
Latest Newsletter🍵 Kelly Marie Tran in racism studyRead

Article

Richard Branson Reveals The Real Reason Why He Bought an Island

    Asian America Daily - in under 5 minutes

    Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories, to your inbox daily, for free!

    Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive

    Richard Branson’s private island is famously known for its paradise-like exuberance, however not many people know that he bought the island for a fraction of the original asking price and that his primary intention for buying the island was to impress a girl.

    The self-made billionaire traveled to Necker Island for the first time in 1977 with Joan Templeman, who would later on become his wife. Today, Branson wrote in a blog post:

    “I had been madly trying to come up with a way to impress a girl I had fallen for, so I rang up the realtor, and expressed my interest.

    “We were still in the early days of Virgin Records, and I by no means had the cash to buy an island.

    “To my delight, the object of my affection agreed to join me on the trip.

    “I fell in love twice that weekend – once as our helicopter (supplied by the realtor of course!) swooped over the turquoise water and white sandy beaches of Necker Island, and again when I saw the smile on the face of the beautiful girl who sat beside me on the journey.

    “Together we strolled around the Island and dreamed up plans for turning it into a haven for musicians.”

    After the trip was over, Branson offered to buy the island for $100,000 but was quickly denied as the asking price was set at $6 million. While Branson’s dreams of owning his own private musical island were temporarily crushed, he was ecstatic a year later when he was offered the island for $180,000.

    Eleven years later, Branson married Joan Templeman on Necker Island. They have since turned the 74-acre island into an exotic resort with zip lines, 1,500 square foot rooms, and luxury yachts docked on their private turquoise water.

    Support our Journalism with a Contribution

    Many people might not know this, but despite our large and loyal following which we are immensely grateful for, NextShark is still a small bootstrapped startup that runs on no outside funding or loans.

    Everything you see today is built on the backs of warriors who have sacrificed opportunities to help give Asians all over the world a bigger voice.

    However, we still face many trials and tribulations in our industry, from figuring out the most sustainable business model for independent media companies to facing the current COVID-19 pandemic decimating advertising revenues across the board.

    We hope you consider making a contribution so we can continue to provide you with quality content that informs, educates and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way.  Thank you for everyone's support. We love you all and can't appreciate you guys enough.

    Support NextShark

    Mastercard, Visa, Amex, Discover, Paypal