This was published 3 years ago
Coronavirus and Virgin Australia: Inside Branson's $150m luxury private island that could help save Virgin
By Tom Metcalf and Ben Stupples
Necker Island has been Richard Branson's personal fiefdom for 40 years. But as his Virgin-branded businesses are battered by the coronavirus crisis, the billionaire is turning to his Caribbean hideaway for cash.
Branson wrote to staff Monday saying he plans to "raise as much money against the island as possible" as the pandemic lays waste to industries where Virgin competes, including airlines, hotels and cruises.
While it's true that Branson has been hit hard by the economic fallout from Covid-19, the move to put his own home on the line is also a result of the lukewarm response to his pleas for government bailouts of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.
Sir Richard Branson's luxury resort at Necker Island.
The 30 hectare private escape in the British Virgin Islands owned entirely by Sir Richard is part of the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio of luxury properties around the world and available to rent exclusively.
According to recent reports, renting out the island for a night will cost you around $122,000 per night.
The island sleeps 30 guests in 15 rooms made up of 11 in the Great House, the highest point of the island and built in Balinese style with views of the Caribbean, the Atlantic and neighbouring islands as well as four-person hot tub with well-stocked bar.
There's also Leha Lo a private standalone room with wraparound terrace and daybeds and rooms Bali Lo, Buah and Kukila on the middle of the island with a large private pool.
Reopened in 2013, the Great House was destroyed by fire caused by a lightning strike in 2011 in which actress Kate Winslet famously carried Richard Branson's 90 year old mother to safety.
On certain weeks of the year certain rooms can be rented "hotel style".
"Necker Island has been my home for more than 30 years and for me it is the most beautiful place in the world," Sir Richard has said.
Decades of media-friendly exploits, from attempts at world records to glitzy airline route launches to a bid to establish the world's first space-tourism company, have become a millstone as states balk at coming to the aid of one of the world's best-known entrepreneurs.
Colouring that reluctance is Necker Island itself, with the British Virgin Islands retreat portrayed as nothing more than a tax haven by some UK politicians and newspapers.
Branson confronts the claim in his letter, saying he bought it age 29 because of his "love" of the island and not for tax reasons. Necker, which was originally uninhabited, isn't just a luxury home, he contends, but also is a business that employs 175 people.
A variety of assets have been collateralised to raise funds during the pandemic, including art, diamonds and London homes, though mortgaging a private island would be particularly unusual.
'He's Different'
"To use an island to go to a third party to raise money, I haven't seen that," said Farhad Vladi, who rents and sells private islands and estimates Necker was worth more than $100 million ($A158.1m) before a hurricane strike in 2017. "But, of course, he's different."
Branson, who turns 70 in July, has been a resident there since 2006, receiving guests including Princess Diana and Barack Obama. "He's very emotionally attached to the island," Vladi said.
"It's part of his family."
There's little sign, though, that the announcement regarding Necker and an appeal from Branson to help save thousands of jobs has changed many minds.
"Branson has not paid tax in this country for 14 years," British lawmaker Diane Abbott tweeted in response to his letter. "On no account should he get a taxpayer bailout, loan or otherwise."
The UK has yet to decide on Virgin Atlantic's weeks-old application for hundreds of millions of pounds in support.
Some of the Englishman's bets have sharpened the cash crunch. In particular, a rebound in Virgin Atlantic's fortunes last year prompted him to scrap the sale of a 30 per cent stake to Air France-KLM in favour of retaining control.
Branson, who'd said the deal was vital to allow Virgin Atlantic to reach its full potential, should perhaps have heeded his own warnings about the precarious nature of the airline business.
"If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline," he once said, only half jokingly.
BLOOMBERG
See also: Richard Branson on his personal paradise
See also: Inside $64,000-a-night Necker Island
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