Posted on 09/24/2006 4:10:08 PM PDT by melt
Just think how many poker games you could play with that kind of money. :)
The Virgin Group is a privately held holding company. No shareholders to provide accountability. If Branson makes good on his pledge, I'll bet most of that money goes into his own alternate-fuel refinery and other "CGI" intitiaves that will end up making a profit. In other words, he is pledging money to himself and his own "for profit" business ventures.
Five years from now, we should pressure him to allow an external audit to see if he really did donate all of the profits from Virgin and how he spent that donation.
By the way, the look on Clinton's face is priceless. You can just tell what he thinks of Richard
Think of how many casinos I could OWN, Mr. Smarty Pants.
Too much 'gin' in the head of Vir'gin' Air?
Exactly, and the number of casinos I'd get comps at. LOL
a sum he estimated at $3 billion over the next 10 years — would be invested in developing energy sources
The money, Sir Richard said, would be invested in a host of alternative energy enterprises, including existing businesses within his Virgin Group, which consists of about 200 different companies connected in some way to Sir Richard’s sprawling corporate empire.
But it was not clear how much money will ultimately go to the effort, because the businesses involved cannot necessarily count on generating as much in profits as Sir Richard has set as his goal.
Sir Richard said his companies were already engaged in developing an aviation fuel not derived from oil, along with better processes for making bio-fuels from grasses and other crops. Conventional bio-fuels now require a great deal of fossil fuel to manufacture.
Sir Richard said the prime goal was not making money, but financing research on ways to provide energy in a world of growing populations and economies without overheating the planet.
“Some will be profitable, some will not be profitable,” he said at a news conference. “But the only way global warming is going to be beaten is to invest in new fuels that can actually replace fossil fuels.”
Sir Richard usually owns a big chunk of most of these new companies. The complicated and often private books of the companies, some of which are registered offshore, are difficult for most outsiders to penetrate.
His list of promotional stunts is long. He has dressed as a bride, a stewardess, a can of soda and a pirate. He has posed nearly nude in Times Square (to promote Virgin Mobile’s lack of hidden fees), and flown to press conferences via jet pack or dangling from wires off helicopters. Plans to sail around the world in a balloon were scrapped after several tries.
Get comps just for showing up at one of your casinos!
Penthouse living 24/7 for you.
Absolutely! Limo ride from McCarren Int'l LOL.
are these ventures even showing a profit NOW? The other airlines aren't. And it's pretty obvious rail doesn't fare too well either
Branson will be brok in no time if he sinks all of his money into this idea..
Someone needs to send him Michael Crichtons book State of Fear.
Hell, think big. Lear jet from Scobey.
I am throwing out a challenge to all Freepers. Name ONE other person in the world MORE bloated with self important ignorance and arrogance than either Turner or Gore. With leaders like these and causes like theirs, no wonder we haven't yet won the war against terrorists. They take this fake Global Baloney more seriously. Anyone who has taken 1 semester of geology knows that ice ages have formed and melted in earlier times without the aid of modern industrial use of fossil fuels.
vaudine
Right! Non-stop to LAS. :)
I agree. I'd give this "Global Warming" caused-by-living-human-beings scam the cold shoulder.
Who was it, King Canute, who thought he could stop the tide from coming in?
BSF-1 LOL
The Legacy of the Clinton's.
There you go!
BBL -- headache.
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