Editing Richard Branson (section)

=== 1988–2000: Telecoms ventures, railways, and worldwide impact ===
[[File:Lichfield Trent Valley railway station MMB 05 390XXX.jpg|thumb|[[Virgin Trains West Coast]] [[British Rail Class 390|Class 390 ''Pendolino'']] at [[Lichfield Trent Valley railway station|Lichfield]] in August 2011]]
In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI for £500&nbsp;million.<ref name="bbcprofile">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3693588.stm|title=Profile: Richard Branson|date=27 September 2004|access-date=3 May 2010|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201185905/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3693588.stm|archive-date=1 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Branson said that he wept when the sale was completed because the record business had been the very start of the Virgin empire. He created [[V2 Records]] in 1996 to re-enter the music business, owning 5% himself.<ref name="solarnav">{{cite web|url=http://www.solarnavigator.net/sponsorship/richard_branson.htm|title=Richard Branson and Virgin-Probably Britains best known Entrepreneur|publisher=Solar Navigator.net|access-date=3 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328062442/http://www.solarnavigator.net/sponsorship/richard_branson.htm|archive-date=28 March 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Virgin also acquired European [[short-haul]] airline Euro Belgian Airlines and renamed it [[Virgin Express]]. In 1997, Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business exploits by entering into the railway business during the [[privatisation of British Rail]] in the late 1990s. [[Virgin Rail Group]] won the [[Virgin CrossCountry|InterCity CrossCountry]] and [[InterCity West Coast]] franchises, beginning operations in January and March 1997 respectively.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/virgin-to-run-crosscountry-trains-1352306.html "Virgin to run CrossCountry trains"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107055841/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/virgin-to-run-crosscountry-trains-1352306.html |date=7 November 2017 }} ''The Independent'' 14 November 1996</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/virgin-pledges-tilt-trains-for-west-coast-1286084.html "Virgin pledges tilt trains for West Coast"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820034655/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/virgin-pledges-tilt-trains-for-west-coast-1286084.html |date=20 August 2017 }} ''The Independent'' 31 January 1997</ref> Both franchises were scheduled to run for 15 years.<ref>Branson's Virgin Group wins CrossCountry Trains for 15 years ''[[Rail (magazine)|Rail]]'' issue 294 18 December 1996, p. 6</ref><ref>Virgin to tackle IC West Coast ''[[Rail Business Intelligence|Rail Privatisation News]]'' issue 48, 20 February 1997, p. 1</ref>

A series of disputes in the early 1990s caused tension between Virgin Atlantic and [[British Airways]], which viewed Virgin as an emerging competitor. Virgin subsequently accused British Airways of poaching its passengers, [[hacker (computer security)|hacking]] its computers, and leaking stories to the press that portrayed Virgin negatively. After the so-called campaign of [[Dirty Tricks (British Airways scandal)|"dirty tricks"]], British Airways settled the case, giving £500,000 to Branson, a further £110,000 to his airline, and had to pay legal fees of up to £3&nbsp;million. Branson distributed his compensation (the so-called "BA bonus") among his staff.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/aug/02/theairlineindustry.britishairways|title=Row over dirty tricks led to decade of hostilities|first=Lee|last=Glendinning|date=2 August 2007|work=The Guardian|access-date=31 August 2011|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831222332/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/aug/02/theairlineindustry.britishairways|archive-date=31 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Branson launched [[Virgin Mobile]] in 1999, and airline [[Virgin Australia|Virgin Blue]] in Australia in 2000.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130102000006/http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/about-us/media/2000/D_019608/ Virgin Blue To Fly The Aussie Skies] Virgin Blue 5 February 2000</ref>