You Wouldn’t Guess Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson’s Secret to Massive Success

Stupid and lazy, this was how Richard Branson’s teachers saw him when he was a child, but now, no one dares to call him that – after all, he is a business magnate worth $4 billion, a success he credited to dyslexia, a learning disability that he has been passionate about.

Virgin Group has expanded to airlines

The Virgin Records founder used to battle dyslexia, which made it hard for him to read and comprehend, at a time when most people were still close-minded about the matter. Richard described the experience as just letters on a blackboard.

He was even seen as a handicap just because he couldn’t keep up with the lessons. Richard famously dropped out of school when he was 16 and went on to put up Virgin Records and eventually Virgin Group, which you can practically see everywhere – from airline to telecommunication, name it.

Despite his rough past, Richard chose to see dyslexia as the silver-lining and is now a staunch advocate. In encouraging others who struggle with this problem, he shared that he learned to take this to his advantage and started assigning tasks that were hard for him.

Once he got out of school, Richard slowly used dyslexia to his advantage

So as his business was slowly starting to grow, he worked his way around dyslexia and adapted to the situation. It did not only help him move on from a hard task but it also made him a better boss, which he called his greatest strength, according to his book.

Being free from those projects made him look at things from a better view, which paved the way for the success of the Virgin Group. Richard knew that dyslexia shouldn’t be hidden instead celebrated and seen as a potential for greater things.

In fact, he has been persistently calling for an end to the stigma surrounding dyslexia, which he said was not a disadvantage at all. Richard called on the young ones suffering from this to look at other successful people who also struggled with the same problem.

His efforts for the cause is genuine, so much so that he put up Made By Dyslexia, an organization that’s led by successful dyslexics that aims to quash misconception about the disorder and to help dyslexic students.

Steve Jobs struggled with dyslexia

There are many famous dyslexic individuals who made a mark in this world. Apart from Richard, genius Albert Einstein, Apple founder Steve Jobs, ex-Prime Minister Winston Churchill, inventor Thomas Edison, and engineer Alexander Graham Bell all defeated the learning condition.

Director Steven Spielberg, actress Kiera Knightley, and the late boxer Muhammad Ali also had the same predicament but turned out to be successful.