Branson recalls tears, $1 billion check in Virgin Records sale
Reuters
2013-10-24
Views 40
They were the sounds that defined a generation, from punk to Phil Collins to the Spice Girls....and they were all on Virgin Records.
Sir Richard Branson founded the label in 1972 -- the first album was Mike Oldfield's haunting Tubular Bells.
Branson grew the company into a powerhouse of the music industry, helping to usher in the progressive rock movement of the 1970s and new wave in the 1980s.
But he sold the business to EMI for a billion dollars in 1992, partly to finance his airline.
SOUNDBITE, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin founder, saying (English):
(Reporter: How much did you have to agonise over that decision, it must have been hard?)
"Yes of course it was very hard - it's like selling your children. I mean you build something from scratch, we had just signed Janet Jackson, we had just signed the Rolling Stones when we sold it and I remember running down Ladbroke Grove, tears streaming down my face with this cheque for a billion dollars in my poc
Sir Richard Branson founded the label in 1972 -- the first album was Mike Oldfield's haunting Tubular Bells.
Branson grew the company into a powerhouse of the music industry, helping to usher in the progressive rock movement of the 1970s and new wave in the 1980s.
But he sold the business to EMI for a billion dollars in 1992, partly to finance his airline.
SOUNDBITE, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin founder, saying (English):
(Reporter: How much did you have to agonise over that decision, it must have been hard?)
"Yes of course it was very hard - it's like selling your children. I mean you build something from scratch, we had just signed Janet Jackson, we had just signed the Rolling Stones when we sold it and I remember running down Ladbroke Grove, tears streaming down my face with this cheque for a billion dollars in my poc
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