> I believe apart from Virgin Atlantic, which
> makes immense profits, almost all of the
> other Richard Branson's businesses made a
> loss or just about broke even lat year.

Is that really true? I think in most cases we just can't know for sure. That's because they are all privately held so they don't have to reveal their earnings (unlike public companies)....

This gives him a competitive advantage against many competitors which are public companies. They have to reveal their earnings to their shareholders and tell them what they are doing, whereas Richard Branson can keep everything a secret!

However, I don't think he'll keep a business afloat eternally if it's not making a profit. For example, he had a company Virgin Films - it made the movie "1984". However, since it was apparently losing money, he shut it down....

- Dien Rice