Editing Richard Branson (section)

===1972–1980: Founding of Virgin Records===
[[File:The Manor Studios (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[The Manor Studio]], Richard Branson's recording studio in the [[manor house]] at the village of [[Shipton-on-Cherwell]] in [[Oxfordshire]]]]
In 1972, using money earned from his record store, Branson launched the record label [[Virgin Records]] with [[Nik Powell]]. The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees because they were all new at business.<ref name="ReferenceA">Richard Branson – ''Losing my Virginity''</ref> Branson bought a country estate north of [[Oxford]] in which he installed a residential recording studio, [[The Manor Studio]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.biography.com/people/richard-branson-9224520|title=Richard Branson Biography|access-date=16 September 2014|website=The Biography.com website|publisher=[[A&E Television Networks]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902042020/http://www.biography.com/people/richard-branson-9224520|archive-date=2 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> He leased studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist [[Mike Oldfield]], whose debut album ''[[Tubular Bells]]'' (1973) was the first release for Virgin Records and became a chart-topping best-seller.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03cw8g0|title=Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story|publisher=BBC|access-date=22 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407044710/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03cw8g0|archive-date=7 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Virgin signed controversial bands such as the [[Sex Pistols]], which other companies were reluctant to sign. Virgin Records would go on to sign other artists including the [[Rolling Stones]], [[Peter Gabriel]], [[XTC]], [[Japan (band)|Japan]], [[UB40]], [[Steve Winwood]] and [[Paula Abdul]], and to become the world's largest independent record label.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197616|title=Richard Branson The P.T. Barnum of British Business|year=2008|access-date=23 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817003928/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197616|archive-date=17 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> It also won praise for exposing the public to such lesser known avant-garde music as [[Faust (band)|Faust]] and [[Can (band)|Can]]. Virgin Records also introduced [[Culture Club]] to the music world.

Branson's net worth was estimated at £5&nbsp;million by 1979, and a year later, Virgin Records went international.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}