Richard Branson, Oil Tycoon?

Confounded by today’s prices, the billionaire [and airline owner] explains why he’s trying to get into exploration and refining

Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson isn’t the type to sit on his tropical island in the Caribbean and merely fume about lethargic politicians. He’s the maverick founder of Britain’s Virgin Group, an empire of 200 companies in industries as diverse as air and rail travel, mobile phones, finance, insurance, beverages, hotel, Internet, and modeling ventures, spanning 30 countries. He has spent the past week lobbying the Canadian government to speed up number portability for mobile phones and pushing his solution to high oil prices because, he says, the politicians won’t. His answer: build a $2 billion oil refinery and take Virgin into the field of oil exploration.

Branson spoke with BusinessWeek Senior Writer Diane Brady about his plans for Virgin Oil. Edited excerpts of their recent conversation follow:

Business Week