维珍之王理查德·布兰森.docVIP

维珍之王理查德·布兰森翻译：小淳 The Virgin King: Sir Richard Branson Whatever he may be doing at any moment, Richard Branson is 1)cutting a figure. Youve seen it. There’s the 2)grin, the 3)leonine head of hair that even at age 56 gives him the appearance of always 4)plowing through the wind like a man on the 5)prow of some very sweet ship. He?s short, but people say you don?t notice it because he never stands in one place long enough for the necessary comparisons. He?s one of those fearless, 6)twinkling guys you hear about who?s always certain that the next thing ― the very next ― well, that will be something else, that’ll be the best. Everything about him seems7)propelled. That figure he cuts is anything but 8)irrelevant. The more you look, the more you realize it might be the most important of several important things about him. Not that Branson?s body of work isn?t admirable. Beginning with a student newspaper at age 17 and a record label in his mid-20s, Branson has built the Virgin Group into an international 9)conglomerate of some 350 companies, many of them still tiny but all of them combining for more than $8 billion a year in sales. We know, of course, about Virgin?s music businesses and 10)transcontinental airline. Most of us have also glimpsed 11)newscasts about Virgin Galactic, Branson?s 12)bid to take paying customers into space. But how many of us know about Virgin?s 13)limousine companies and wine business and trains, and its enterprises that rent bikes, make 14)cosmetics, operate 15)bridal shops, run health clubs, sell holidays, offer balloon flights, and market 16)lingerie? “I want Virgin to be as well known around the world as Coca-Cola.” This is a comment that too many observers have used to sum Branson up. And yet, Coca-Cola has never opened a business to fly passengers to the moon. Nor has it expanded into online auto sales. Or railroad operations. Or any of a hundred other things Branson?s 17)appetite has led him to undertake. But back