Tech Check
More Videos
MOST SHARED
- Greek Debt Saga Back on Center Stage for Markets
- Obama Likely to Call for Cutting Top Corporate Tax Rate
- Special Feature: Wall Street History - How Wall Street Got Its Name
- Obama to Project $901 Billion Budget Deficit in 2013
- Private Homebuilders: Dead Men Walking
- When Love and the Fed Collide
- How to Trade the Turmoil in Greece
- Steelers' Antonio Brown Spends Super Bowl Week with Twitter Fan Turned BFF
- We're Not Greece: Italian Prime Minister Monti
- LinkedIn CEO Calms Post-Lockup Concerns
- In Search of America's ‘Hottest Forecasters’
- Dow vs. S&P 500: Which is a Better Investment?
- Mick Fleetwood on the MP3 ‘Dumbing Down’ of Music
- Avis on the Road to Strong Growth: Analyst
- Private Homebuilders: Dead Men Walking
- LinkedIn’s Growth Is Already Priced In: Analyst
- The Real Reason Behind Bank of America’s Rally
- 5 Hedge Funds’ Top Stocks Soar After 2011 Rout
- This Valentine’s Day Love Is Served on a Silver Platter
- Greek Cabinet Approves EU, IMF Bailout Bill
- We're Not Greece: Italian Prime Minister Monti
- Private Homebuilders in the US: Dead Men Walking
- Dividend Payout Could Hit Record Amount This Year
- With Investors So Bullish, Stock Pullback Must Be Ahead
- Obama Likely to Call for Cutting Top Corporate Tax Rate
- New York Fashion Week Fall 2012
- NetNet: Why Saving Greece Could Destroy the World
- My Funny Valentine: When Love and the Fed Collide
TECH CHECK VIDEO
RSS FEED
Branson's Mars Mission: Prankster Or Pathfinder?
Text Size 
Silicon Valley Bureau Chief
 |
AP Richard Branson |
] . Needless to say, the news captured a lot of attention--and the imagination -- of so many who read those headlines. But then, as quickly as the news broke, reporters, including our own Jane Wells, broke the news that all this was an April Fools hoax, bursting the Mars bubble shortly after that one small step onto the internet.
Or was it? I sat down with the man himself here at the CTIA wireless conference in Las Vegas, and in my exclusive interview with the Virgin [VMED
Loading...
()
] empire builder covering all kinds of topics, I had to ask about the prank. No prank, he assured me. It's a hoax, I said. It's not, he retorted. (I'm posting the entire interview here, so judge for yourself!)
So I played along, and pressed him on the details. When? Hopefully by 2020, if not sooner, but definitely before he dies. How much capital will he commit? He hemmed, hawed, paused, and then said that he and the Google guys would pony up $15 billion toward the project.
All with a straight face. And all with the simmering passion of a guy who dreams big and has the bank account to back up those dreams.
No one is really quite sure what to make of any of this. If it's a hoax, he played it brilliantly. If it's not, then Branson's dreams of intergalactic exploration are being met with the same kind of skepticism that probably confronted Magellan and Columbus.
Maybe the funniest thing of all: these may be the outlandish wishes, hopes and dreams of an eccentric billionaire, but few people doubt that he'd be capable of undertaking such an initiative if he truly wanted to. That speaks volumes about Branson the explorer, Branson the dreamer, and best of all, maybe Branson the prankster.
Watch the video and tell me your thoughts. Is Branson for real? Or is it all just a big joke? Take the poll. You decide.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
