Branson goes from cellphones to stem cells
Thursday, February 1, 2007 | 12:15 PM ET
by Ian Johnson, CBC News Online
Richard Branson's knack for marketing and his eye for hot business opportunities have helped him bank huge piles of cash from music, airline and mobile phone ventures. Now he wants to bank something new, making a bid to move from cellphone mogul to stem cell czar, according to a Guardian Co./Press Association report.
Branson's latest business, launched today in the U.K., is a biotech firm that will store stem cells harvested from the umbilical cords of newborns for a fee, the report said although there are no mentions on Virgin's main site and the venture itself doesn't appear to have its own website. Stem cells taken from umbilical cords after birth are a source of material for new types of medical treatments. The new bank will reportedly store some of a client's donated cells strictly for their personal use, and a portion will be made freely available to members of the public who need them.
Considering the client base, though, the marketing genius may want to have another go at the reported name of the venture: Virgin Health Bank.
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Don McDaniels
I had the pleasure of shaking hands with Mr. Branson here in Los Angeles at a Virgin Megastore book signing. Mr. Branson's heart, mind and soul seems to be universally aligned.
He could easily took himself away and allow the power of mogul success to back him into a corner of suspicion, fueled by preservation of self.... But he's out and about balancing his much deserved success with human and environmental responsibilities.
We should all learn from his example. It's not always about money, it's about making the effort to do the right thing as a way of life.
My wife and I chose to extract and preserve the Stem Cells of our children, in 2000. A very simple procedure that preserves the cells for future use, if so needed. I'd hate to learn in the future, that a simple Stem Cell extraction on the birth date of my child could possibly have preserved his life, saved him from some controllable disease....
More power to you Mr. Branson, thank you for rising to a level of universal responsibility few will ever know.....
Posted February 11, 2007 01:47 PM