Is Richard Branson any better?
September 2001
With Virgin Blue staff in tears in the background fearing Branson had taken Ansett's money, Branson was apparently about to confirm the bad news in a staged media event at the Virgin Blue terminal in Melbourne on September 4 . "Oh f... it, I'm only joking," he said suddenly as the cameras whirred, and tore a pretend $250 million Ansett cheque into pieces in a moment that dominated that night's Australian TV news. Eight days later, Ansett went into voluntary liquidation and the Branson empire banked the dividend.