word of motivation

After listening to the Richard Branson interview (Richard Branson's life at 30,000 feet) on TED.com, I was surprised to learn that this highly successful entrepreneur is actually very humble and personable. I always thought that with all his business success and riches, he would be an arrogant, cutthroat, mean-spirited type of individual but he did not come across that way at all in the interview. He was laughing, joking, and smiling throughout the whole interview.

I was inspired by Richard Branson because he seemed to be really concerned with things other than himself such as his employees and the environment. He did not come off as self-centered at all. He said that for someone to be wealthy and not do anything good with it in the world would be "worrying" to him because he thinks that if you have that type of power, you should be doing good things such as creating jobs for people. He stated that he had 55,000 employees for his 250+ companies and that he has made some business decisions that were influenced by the welfare of his employees. He is a philanthropist and has dedicated his life's work to preserving the environment. He has even issued a green earth challenge stating that the first person to come up with an economically viable solution to the greenhouse gas problem will be awarded $25 million from him.

Branson dropped out of school at the age of 15 but yet has managed to own and operate 250+ companies ranging from entertainment to tourism. He even stated that for the longest time during his board meetings, he never knew the difference between "gross" and "net" until one of his executives pulled him aside and drew him a picture. That example right there shows that he is just a regular person like the rest of us. Branson is not afraid of trying new things and he reminds me a little of the spokesman for DOS EQUIS beer--the most interesting man in the world.

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_branson_s_life_at_30_000_feet.html