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Richard Branson Cops It In The Pants

10:48AM Clem Bastow | Sir Richard Branson, the World’s Wackiest Entrepreneur, has finally been tripped up by one of his worryingly regular promotional stunts for Virgin, this time for Virgin Airlines entry into the American carrier market. Richard made a dick of himself when his bungee jump down the side of the Palms Casino Hotel in Vegas didn’t go exactly as he’d planned, leaving him bruised and shaken – and without the seat of his pants. It all started so well. Strapped in a harness and attached to a cable, the 57-year-old tycoon beamed confidently before taking a running jump from the roof. As he descended rapidly, he pulled airline tickets out of his pocket and scattered them to the ground as part of the bungee-cum-abseiling stunt. But instead of gliding smoothly to the ground, Sir Richard smashed his bottom twice into the building and, as the colour drained from his face, began to realise something was amiss – or rather, missing. After clamping his hands to his seatless trousers to assess the damage, he was lowered to the ground without further injury. Poor widdle Wichard apparently scuttled into the comforting embrace of his minders and ran away without answering questions. Really, isn’t he getting a bit old for all this? What next? “Richard Branson base-jumps to celebrate opening of Virgin Garden Centers”? “Richard Branson self-immolates to launch Virgin Home Security”? It’s anyone’s guess. More »