Richard Branson: 6 inspiring books that changed my life—including one 'everyone should read' (2024)

A great book can challenge your perceptions, shape your worldview, and impart messages that stay with you forever. Six books that billionaire Virgin Group founder Richard Branson has read over the course of his life have left that sort of lasting effect.

Branson is himself an author. Most recently, in April, he released his audiobook memoir, "Losing and Finding My Virginity: The Full Story."

This list of the six books that have most inspired him, which he shared with CNBC Make It, includes fiction and non-fiction entries from the past five decades.

1. 'Just Mercy' by Bryan Stevenson

Stevenson is a New York University law professor and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit providing legal representation to underserved clients and wrongfully convicted prisoners. Published in 2014, "Just Mercy" is a memoir focusing largely on Stevenson's work to overturn a wrongful conviction that put Walter McMillian on death row for six years before his release in 1993.

The story was adapted into a 2019 film by the same name starring Jamie Foxx.

"I think everyone should read the book 'Just Mercy' — it will really make you think about capital punishment and why it deserves no place in the world," says Branson, who has called for an end to the death penalty. "While it is ultimately a story of hope, it is also a damning indictment of a system still characterized by discrimination, error, and unimaginable cruelty."

2. 'The Dice Man' by Luke Rhinehart (aka George co*ckcroft)

This 1971 novel revolves around the role of fate in our lives, following a psychiatrist who opts to make all of his day-to-day decisions by literally rolling dice — spurring some exciting, and sometimes tragic, results. The provocative thought experiment at the center of the book helped it develop a cult following.

Branson calls it "a very entertaining read that has always stayed with me."

He first read the novel "just before starting Virgin Records" in 1972 and even occasionally used the dice-rolling strategy when making tough decisions around which bands to sign to his record label.

"This meant compiling a list of potential actions, rolling a dice and going along with whatever number the dice landed on," Branson says, noting that the method produced mixed results: "Safe to say I didn't keep using the book to influence my decisions for long!"

3. 'Start With Why' by Simon Sinek

Sinek is an author and leadership expert whose first book, 2009's "Start With Why," focuses on how the most effective leaders can inspire others to take action. The moral of the book is that great leaders and businesses focus on a firm purpose or belief to steer their mission before worrying about the process or results.

That ethos struck a chord with Branson, who believes that happiness comes from exploring opportunities you genuinely find interesting and rewarding, and that success is about "making a difference in other people's lives," he told CNBC Make It in May.

On "Start With Why," Branson says: "My key takeaway was that it doesn't matter what you do, but why you do it …. If you don't understand why you're doing something and if you're not passionate about it, it's harder to create something unique and something that adds value to people's lives."

4. 'I Am a Girl From Africa' by Elizabeth Nyamayaro

Branson believes this memoir exemplifies the idea that "the biggest challenges of our time also present the biggest opportunities," he says.

Nyamayaro writes about growing up in a Zimbabwe village struck with famine in the 1980s, where she received food and aid from the United Nations, through UNICEF. That experience inspired her dream of working for the U.N. and helping others in need.

She writes about her family scraping together money to pay for her education, as well as eventually serving as a senior advisor at the U.N. and running the organization's gender equality initiative, HeForShe.

"Nyamayaro is an incredible humanitarian and author with an inspiring story reminding us of our common humanity and the power of persistence," Branson says.

5. 'The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon' by Kevin Fedarko

This non-fiction book recounts the true story of a massive 1983 flood that nearly overran the Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back one of the country's largest water reservoirs on the Colorado River. "The Emerald Mile" follows a group of river-rafting guides who saw in the near-crisis an opportunity for a "downright suicidal" adventure, according to Fedarko.

They launched a small wooden boat into the dangerous rapids on a record-setting attempt at the fastest boat to trip down the length of the Colorado River.

"The book reminds us that our greatest limitations are often the ones we put on ourselves," says Branson, who has attempted his share of dangerous stunts over the years. "It is a true story that reminds me of fictional adventures I loved in my youth, and the world record-breaking attempts I've made as an adult!"

6. 'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles

Towles' 2016 bestselling novel follows a former Russian aristocrat confined to house arrest in the 1920s following the Bolshevik revolution. Under these conditions, the central character embarks on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth that, Branson says, "gave me reason to rethink" a long-standing "unwritten rule of trusting my first impressions."

The sentiment that really hit home for Branson was the idea that following the courage of your convictions matters more than acclaim: "I've always been more focused on the journey than the destination, and found that success comes when we do what we love, not because we yearn for acclaim," he says.

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