Richard Branson is one of the most famous billionaires on the planet. But far less known is his son, Sam, who has successfully built his own career as an entrepreneur and business owner.
A documentary maker and keen explorer, here Money Maker Times takes a look at the path taken by Sam Branson after opting to do his own thing away from Virgin.
Sam Branson’s early life
Sam Branson was born on August 12, 1985, and is the youngest child of Richard Branson and Joan Templeman.
Richard Branson missed his son’s birth because his son arrived three weeks early, while the Virgin founder was busy with one of his projects.
“I knew nothing about his birth because I had just sunk the Virgin Atlantic Challenger,” he said on social media.
“We were attempting to set a world record and get the Blue Riband (Hales Trophy) back for Great Britain.
“Whilst Joan was nurturing our beautiful newborn baby, I (along with the other sailors) were fortunately being rescued by a banana boat out in the Atlantic.
“I learnt I had a newborn son when I climbed onto the banana boat and a delightful woman showed me a photo of Sam on the front page of the Daily Mail.”
Growing up, Sam Branson mixed his time between the UK and Necker Island in the Caribbean. His dad even once joked that his son had spent so much time on Necker Island that he was “practically white Caribbean”.
As a teenager, the son of the famous billionaire attended St Edward’s School, a traditional boarding school in Oxford. Joan Templeman is said to have always desired to ensure her children remained grounded and had a relatively normal upbringing away from the spotlight.
Sam Branson’s entrepreneurial pursuits
Rather than going into the family business, Sam Branson chose to set out on his own path.
In 2012, at the age of 27, Branson founded the TV production company Sundog Pictures. The company focused on creating documentaries and factual content, with projects focusing on areas such as climate change, social justice, and human rights.
The company has worked with major TV networks, including the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4.
Speaking in 2019, Branson said that it had always been his dream to run his own production firm.
He said: “I was a documentary fiend and they’re such an amazing tool to, in the space of an hour and a half, travel all over the world, meet 15 different people, 10 different perspectives, emotionally engage in a topic. And so I wanted to take my love of the world and film and merge them into one business.”
In another interview in 2022, he explained: “One constant is my passionate belief in the medium of film to change people’s lives.”
Branson added: “There’s no other medium that lets someone sit in the comfort of their own home, and watch something that can completely change their perspective on the world.
“Film can take a person watching it around the globe and can help dissect very complex issues.
“At Sundog, we’d covered everything you can think of – including reporting on gay rights, race, the death penalty, the war on drugs, HIV, and the truth about alcohol.”
Nine years after launch, in 2021, Sundog Pictures merged into a new global studio co-founded by Branson.
The Brit teamed up with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, to create HiddenLight Productions.
The company states that it aims to “uplift new talent, diverse voices and untold stories from across the globe” and produce films to “entertain, surprise, empower women, spark conversations and activate audiences through a greater understanding of the world we live in”.
Since being set up in 2021, HiddenLight Productions has secured partnerships with major distributors and platforms, including Apple TV+, YouTube, and Channel 4.
Sam Branson’s passion for philanthropy
Away from the world of work, Sam Branson has always been passionate about giving back to society.
In the aftermath of the 2012 London riots, Sam and his sister Holly teamed up with Princess Beatrice and others to “rethink charity and be a catalyst for change for all young people”.
The plan was to help give opportunities to “connect, learn and act together as part of a purpose-driven community rethinking and reshaping the systems around young people”. It focuses on turning ideas into a reality to transform social care, mental health, and education.
Speaking in 2012 shortly after founding the organisation, Branson said: “After the London riots, as young people, we were saying, ‘Wow, I didn’t realise there was such a level of frustration going on’. That all contributed to our thinking that we should found a charity that specifically focused on helping young people thrive in life, not just exams.
“It seemed that all the focus is on how well you do academically, and all the other parts of the human character was just put to one side.”
Big Change now boasts having funded more than 60 projects in the 14 years since launch.
Elsewhere, Branson has also founded The Virgin Strive Challenge. The charitable endeavour – which raises money for Big Change – offers extreme endurance sports for those looking to push themselves. Its motto is: “Growth happens outside your comfort zone; magic happens when you go there with others.”
What is Sam Branson’s net worth?
Sam Branson’s exact net worth is unclear as it is not publicly available, but his eventual net worth is set to be over a billion pounds.
Richard Branson has a net worth of £2.4billion and has vowed to give his businesses to his children, Sam and Holly, when he dies.
“I plan to keep it in the family and they plan to keep it in the family,” he told The Times in 2024.
