Well, if I remember a recent program about him on BBC 2, although he may have come from a relatively wealthy family, he was taught at an early age to fend for himself. Daddy did not finance his business ventures. Richard Branson is an ordinary guy with a very ordinary education. He started at the bottom (very young) and through good business acumen worked his way up. He can communicate with people at all levels - a very handy important tool which many of today's super educated fat cats have no ability to do - hence the recent fiasco at BA.