Prominent billionaire Richard Branson loses 96-year-old mother to COVID-19
- The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has continued to wreak havoc as the world grapples to get the vaccines
- Richard Branson, a UK billionaire, has lost his 96-year-old mother to the deadly to the virus
- Sharing the tragic news, the business mogul said he would opt to celebrate his mother rather than mourning her
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Richard Branson, prominent billionaire founder of the Virgin Group has lost his 96-year-old mother, Eve, to the ravaging COVID-19.
The United Kingdom (UK) businessman who is worth $4.5 billion according to Forbes shared the news on Virgin Group's website on Monday, January 11.
Branson said he would opt to celebrate his late mother's "wonderful life, her tremendous spirit, the joy she brought to so many, and the love she gave us all" rather than mourning her.
Source: Facebook
He described her mother as "a force of nature" and recalled how she took glider lessons disguised as a boy and enlisted in the WRENS during World War II.
The billionaire also recalled the role his mother played in his career, especially the establishment of the Virgin group.
Source: Facebook
He said:
"It is no exaggeration to say I owe my career to mum. One day in the late Sixties mum saw a necklace lying on the road near Shamley Green and took it to the police station.
"After three months nobody had claimed it so the police told her she could keep it. She came up to London, sold the necklace and gave me the money.
"Without that £100, I could never have started Virgin. We were so sad to lose dad back in 2011, but mum did exactly as he would have wished by continuing to grab life with both hands."
According to the billionaire businessman, one of his mother's most brilliant legacies is The Eve Branson Foundation.
The foundation was established to improve the lives of women and young girls in the Atlas Mountains, and provide access to education and health care to those in need, he explained.
Legit.ng gathers that Branson was co-owner of Virgin Nigeria Airways, a business he pulled out of after the deal with co-owner Jimoh Ibrahim fell apart.
He still owns Virgin Atlantic that flies directly to the UK from Lagos/Abuja.
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In another related report, Colonel Aminu Isa Kontagora, a former military administrator of Kano and Benue states, is dead.
Kontagora reportedly died on Sunday night, January 10, after a brief illness at a hospital in Abuja.
A close family member of the former military administrator who announced the death said Kontagora died of COVID-19 related complications.
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Source: Legit.ng
