Hyperdrive
Branson Ready for His Biggest Test Yet as Space Shot Beckons
- Entrepreneur will ring New York bell as Galactic unit lists
- Virgin heads into busiest year expanding travel, tourism units
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Richard Branson plucks a dried grasshopper from a jar, takes a bite, and pronounces the insect surprisingly tasty before slurping down a vegan yogurt and offering to trial the concoction on Virgin Atlantic Airways flights.
The U.K. billionaire, a serial creator of companies spanning record labels to airlines to fizzy drinks and bridal gowns, is in his element. He’s meeting with fellow entrepreneurs at a so-called “Pitch to Rich” session in Israel, where the contest’s winner gets a business-class flight to London for a week of hot-housing at Virgin’s own innovation hub.