Sir Richard Branson portrays himself as the working class, however, this is not the case, is he just not using the working class to make himself richer? Branson may well be a self-made millionaire this does not mean he is now not a fully-fledged member of the bourgeoisie. His companies are world-wide, they include; airline (Virgin Atlantic); mobile communications (Virgin Mobile); trains, (Virgin Trains); retail (Virgin Megastores); clothing (Virgin Clothing); radio (Virgin radio); beverages (Virgin Cola); music (V2 Music); publishing (Virgin Publishing); professional sports (London Broncos); financial services (Virgin Direct, Virgin One); Internet service (Virgin Net); cosmetics (Virgin Cosmetics); bridal arrangements (Virgin Bride). This shows that Branson is able to influence society in every aspect.
The Virgin Empire continues: Recently, Virgin.com embarked on a deal, which no company has ever attempted. Assembling a virtual team of experts spreading across two continents and eight time zones to help a business conglomerate with hundreds of disparate business units create a single mega portal that attracts more people than all but nine other sites on the entire Internet. Concisely, that is what Virgin.com is trying to do. He hopes will enable him to become the “third biggest internet portals”, according to, Doyle (2000). Is this not just another get rich scheme, to boost the Virgin name and keep Branson in the position of power that he already holds?
Still pocketing the cash where others will struggle: Even, in today’s economical climate Branson is still one of the world’s richest men, announcing that Virgin Media is still increasing the number of customers. Is this due to the catchy advertisements where well known actors promote his services or is it for the first twelve months no other competitor out there can beat his prices? We all see this introductory price as a great opportunity but just wait until your first twelve months contact is up, doubt you will still be smiling then. Whatever it is that attracts new customer for Virgin Media, it is certainly lining Branson pocket and not that of his staff. Today it has been, announced that Virgin Media will be closing its centre at Staverton within the Cotswolds, which has been running for the last 15 years, this follows the axing 126 jobs at the Waterfront office in March. After Virgin’s announcement in November 2008, that it would be axing 2,200 staff between now and 2010.
Branson is heading towards world domination, if he is not already there, which allows him to control society with his advertisements and try to portray that he, is the best. Furthermore, from a Marxist point of view, media is one of the main contributions aiding the bourgeoisie to inflict their opinions onto society, only enhancing them to line their pockets further. Surely, the outcome is Branson another fat cat getting fatter.
