Richard Branson’s wife Joan dies aged 80 as Virgin boss pays tribute to ‘best friend’ after 50 years together
Virgin boss said it was ‘love at first sight’
SIR Richard Branson’s beloved wife Joan has sadly died aged 80 after they shared 50 years together.
The 75-year-old posted an emotional tribute to Joan as the “most wonderful mum and grandmum” on Instagram.
He wrote: “Heartbroken to share that Joan, my wife and partner for 50 years, has passed away.
“She was the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for.
“She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world.
“Love you forever Joan x.”
Yesterday, he posted an image of them together on Instagram captioned “love this photo of Joan”.
Branson said he “fell in love from the first moment” he saw her in 1976, as she was “unlike any woman I had ever met” and set about wooing her.
In 1966, Joan had married her childhood sweetheart Ronnie Leahy but the pair got divorced in 1978.
She then married Branson in 1989 on his Necker Island in the Caribbean Sea – which he later revealed he only bought to impress her.
He went on to say: “Behind every man there’s a great woman. Joan you are the greatest woman of them all.”
They share daughter Holly, 44, son, Sam, 40, and five grandchildren – Etta, Artie, Lola, Eva-Deia and Bluey.
A second daughter sadly died only four days after being born.
In July, for Joan’s 80th birthday, Branson wrote: “Thank you for being by my side through it all – the highs, the lows, and all those quiet, content and peaceful moments in between.
“These are the moments I cherish most with you, I love you more and more each year.”
In 2016 the couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, and the Virgin boss penned a love letter to Joan.
The letter read: “I experienced love at first sight upon meeting a blonde-haired, down to earth, Scottish beauty named Joan, who just happened to be making a cup of tea.
“I generally make up my mind about someone within 30 seconds of meeting them, and Joan won my heart instantly. She was unlike any other women I had ever met.
“She was beautiful. She was bright. She was witty. She was down to earth. She was fun. And she had eyes made of magic.”
In an article written for the Virgin website celebrating her 70th birthday, the entrepreneur previously said he fell in love with Joan “from the first moment I saw her” as she worked in a bric-a-brac shop in London.
He recalled he had to “persistently hang around the shop and buy countless objects”, including an old advertising sign, before the pair started to date.
In the piece, the businessman said his wife was a “very private person” who had “always stood by me mentally, emotionally and spiritually”.
Joan was born in Glasgow, Scotland.
Her father worked as a ship carpenter to support her and her six siblings.
She was quite independent at an early age and worked in several jobs including running an antique store.
Branson is said to have a net worth of around £3.8billion and is a self-made businessman who launched his company Virgin over 50 years ago.
The Virgin boss was born in Blackheath, London, in 1950 and started his first venture, Virgin Records, in 1972, which he later sold to EMI in 1992 for £500million.
The dad-of-two has started up some very lucrative companies along the way, including Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 and Virgin Trains in 1993.
He also has a keen interest in space, and launched space tourism company Virgin Galactic in 2004, with the hope of offering future trips to space for £153,000 a go.
