A whip-round for Richard Branson?

I just feel sorry for the 70000 employees who could be out of work if Virgin goes under.

This is the letter he's sent to employees.

www.virgin.com/richard-branson/open-letter-virgin-employees

It goes on a bit but shows that he's not just been sitting on his island, twiddling his thumbs whilst this has been going on

I'm no fan of the man at all.

But there's nothing stopping him from just throwing in the towel, thereby causing a massive loss of jobs and revenue.

These people are so rich, because they never spend a penny of their own money, take risks with other people's, and despise us for letting them get away with it.
Only little people pay tax. (don't know who said it, but always remembered it.)

IIRC the woman who said, ‘Only little people pay taxes’ was an American, Lorna Helmsley?? - who later got into serious trouble with the US taxman over her tax dodging.

Sorry oops I’m with the Guardian on this today:

“Richard Branson's bailout plea proves there's no one more shameless”
Marina Hyde

Marina Hyde is brilliant:

“Motorboating enthusiast Richard Branson is playing a particularly idiosyncratic game of Monopoly. He would like to mortgage his private Caribbean island. In return, you, the taxpayer, have to buy him Mayfair and Park Lane, all the greens, all the yellows, all the reds, and stick a hotel on every one of them. Also, if Richard lands on Super Tax or Income Tax he doesn’t pay them. And if he gets the Community Chest saying “pay hospital fees”, he refuses and sues the hospital. The only bright side is that he no longer operates out of any of the stations.”

Surely any ordinary person running their own business has to finance it themselves. They take the profits and they take the losses. Why is Branson any different? Can't he put his hand in his own pocket?

Of course he can but he'd rather sit in his tax haven and let someone else pay. Virgin Atlantic is mainly owned by AirFrance/KLM and Delta. Let him take his begging bowl to the French, Dutch and Americans.

He successfully sued the NHS for a couple of million, ran a train network so badly it had to be rescued by government and market worth necker island is apparently worth £30million. Not a great asset to offset a £500million loan.
Feel sorry for staff. And don’t fancy British airways being a monopoly. Virgin Atlantic should have approached this not via him.

What’s wrong with a whip round for him?I’ve got a whip So I’d start. Greedy beggar!

Sorry oops I’m with the Guardian on this today:

I wasn't really supporting him, Urmstongran

I was just thinking about all the staff.

There was an article saying that many airlines will be going out if business

He'll be fine if Virgin folds, but there's a lot of people relying on him for their livelihoods

Er, doesn't his island blow up or something similar, disappear every two years. Why does he want to borrow from the English tax-payer when he doesn't contribute any tax.
No chance Richard. By the way Richard, your planes pollute the air and contribute to global warming.

What can I add to what everyone has already said? All I can say is I absolutely loathe these fat cats who use and abuse the system to make and keep themselves rich. Frankly I think it’s unbelievable that this man has the brass neck to request that we, the tax payers, bail out his company. I’m afraid with people like this it’s me, me, me, and never mind anyone else. Perhaps RB could turn his attention to procuring and paying for some PPE for our medics out of his grotesquely large personal fortune.

Marina Hyde telling Branson like it is

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/21/richard-branson-bailout

Bransons Island is worthless.

Its an empirers new clothes situation where he charges through the nose for something not very special. It has no infastructure of its own.

Nobody in their right mind would buy it for any more than any other non self sufficient sand bar in that part of the world.