Re: Shameless
All of the Virgin companies are basically paying licence fees to use the name and branding. Some were started by Branson, others he bought into. Most he[*] will own some shares in, but rarely a controlling interest, often not many shares at all. In most cases, he slowly cashes out over time, rarely buying back in.
One of the best examples is Virgin Media, a UK cable TV/ISP/Phone/Mobile P{hone company in the UK who at the time was actually NTL:Telewest who re-branded, paying to use the Virgin name. He used to own most of Virgin Mobile, but only ever owned a tiny amount of Virgin Media. The Virgin Media deal was £10m per year licencing deal, originally for 10 years, plus some advertising and public appearance by Beardy. When VM bought Virgin Mobile, that was Beardy cashing out. VM are currently paying Virgin about £8.5m per year to licence the brand and name. Beardy owns no shares at all, VM was wholly owned by Liberty Media but are now in a partnership/merger with the O2 UK mobile network these days,
Most of the "Virgin" companies have similar histories
[*] well, not Branson, but his off-shore holding company.