Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Richard Branson savaged after offering Caribbean island to secure UK govt bailout as Covid-19 knocks airline

Richard Branson savaged after offering Caribbean island to secure UK govt bailout as Covid-19 knocks airline

British billionaire Richard Branson has incited a furious backlash after trying to tempt the UK government to agree to a major bailout of Virgin Atlantic airlines by offering up his Necker Island in the Caribbean as collateral.

The 69-year-old business magnate – who has an estimated net worth of $4.4 billion – made the pledge in a blog post on Monday, to try to secure a £500 million lifeline for his airline to help it through the “devastating impact this [Covid-19] pandemic continues to have.”

Branson revealed that he was offering up his private isle in the tax-free British Virgin Islands – which he bought in 1978 for $180,000 – in an attempt to persuade the UK government to help save “as many jobs as possible” and prevent his airline from going bust. PM Boris Johnson’s administration has reportedly turned down his £500 million bailout request.

The businessman also tweeted an open letter to Virgin employees, in which he notably claimed that his company “has never and will never take a penny out of the NHS” – that’s despite him having successfully sued the public healthcare system in November 2017.

Furthermore, the Mirror reported in January that Branson’s Virgin healthcare group had paid no corporation tax despite being handed £2 billion worth of NHS and local authority deals.

Branson’s latest move in response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak, which has severely hit the airline industry, has been dismissed online as mere “PR posturing.”

Emeritus Professor of Accounting at Essex University, Prem Sikka, suggested on Twitter that if the billionaire mogul was willing to put up his island for collateral then there’s nothing stopping him from borrowing commercially without government financial assistance.

Sikka is also of the view that Branson’s island is nowhere near worth the £500 million he seeks from UK government coffers – which is ostensibly British taxpayers’ money.


Others joked that Branson was a bit like “a Bond villain” who has his own island, with some suggesting that the site should be filled with all the “tax-dodging billionaires” and left there.



It’s not the first time Branson has come under strident criticism in recent weeks for seeking state support. In March, author and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb dubbed the billionaire a “tax refugee” who “walks around virtue-faking with [the] TED [and] Davos crowd.”

“He lives in the British Virgin Islands and since the UK has no worldwide taxation, [he] pays no taxes. Yets wants the UK taxpayer's backstop,” Taleb said, in a blistering tweet.

The British businessman moved assets worth $1.1 billion from the US to the British Virgin Islands in March, highlighting his use of tax havens as he attempts to minimize his losses during the coronavirus crisis.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×