Richard Branson
In the late 1960’s, Branson started the Student magazine, where he interviewed prominent people. He also started to sell records through the magazine at a discounted rate, helping it result in an overnight success. Branson opened a record shop in 1971, but was labeling records sold as export stock, and thus had to pay a hefty fine and unpaid taxes. His mother had to re-mortgage the house to help his son pay the settlement cost with the government.
Ultimately, however, the Virgin Records store was a success, and it allowed him to create his own record label. By 1992, at the age of 42-years old, he had created Virgin Atlantic and the Virgin Megastores. But in order to keep the airline afloat, he was pressured into selling the record label or have to suffer a major financial failure and loss in the airline industry. He sold the label to EMI for £500 million and was completely distraught after this because the record business was his first foray into the business world.
Eventually, the airline succeeded and the Virgin brand today is synonymous with value and customer service, also making Branson one of the richest people on the planet. He simply refused to give up, even through all the failures and the setbacks.
