Sir Richard Branson was in Chicago last night to ring in the opening of a new Virgin hotel, and the CEO treated himself to a front-row seat at the Bulls' regular-season finale. So the Bulls treated him as they do all of their most esteemed guests, turning Branson into a human bowling ball and hurtling him across the court.
Branson was a good sport about it, even though he left several pins standing in his wake.
"Obviously I’m supporting the Bulls,” Branson said during a TV interview with CSN. “I thought they were going to be wiped out in the beginning, but they’ve come back very strongly. It’s great to have a front-row seat, and it’s wonderful to learn about it."
It seemed pretty apparent that this was Branson's only Bulls-related talking point -- he knew they were doing better now than before, and maybe they could keep doing good -- but he seemed to be enjoying the game experience nonetheless.
Branson is one of the wilder and more entertaining CEOs you'll meet. In 1991, he attempted to fly in a hot air balloon across the Pacific Ocean. The balloon wound up landing in the Arctic, but Branson survived.
Since then, his Virgin company has taken on many lines of commerce. In addition to hotels and telecommunications, the company also has an airline and is one of the companies leading the push for space tourism.
