Desmond Tutu: If a young man says to you, sir Richard, if I want to be successful what must I do?

Branson: You must realize that money is not the definition of success, you want to get involved with whatever interests you in life and try to do it the best you can, it may be that money will be a byproduct of that and you’ll be able to put that money to good use. Achieving things you can be proud of and making a real difference.

DT: You’ve been very successful, what would have happen had you not succeeded.

Branson: Honestly, as long as I tried hard to succeed…I’m not the sort of person who feared failure.

There’s a thin diving line between success and failure. And I feel fear like anybody else. I’ve been picked out of the sea 6 times by helicopters. And on the laws of average I shouldn’t be alive today.

I think there’s not much a difference between an adventurer and an entrepreneur. You’re trying to achieve things that have never been achieved before, you’re trying to do it better than it’s ever been done before and you’re trying to protect against the downside. And the downside for an adventurer is obviously your life.

One could easily psychoanalyze me and say this is incredibly stupid and this incredibly irresponsible, and of course it is. But equally, if you stand back in life, you think would I rather be doing things or sitting in front of a television watching other people do things…