Independent Leyton Orient Forum

Thor wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:56 am So I heard on the radio yesterday that Branson wants a £500m bailout from the government and will put his Becker island worth £80m up as collatoroal. A couple of things if I may.

1) all his companies are registered in the BVI and trying to ascertain a paper trail or understand what they do or pay tax or where they pay it is nigh on impossible.
2) he has lived on that island for 14 years and as it’s a zero tax haven he has not paid one penny to HMRC in that time.
3) it’s a private company which will live and die by the decisions of his management team.
4) he is supposed to be worth £4-5bn depending on what you read, does he really need a bailout?

So all in all I do not beleive that the uk government should bail him out. I really feel for his workers and yes I’d love to support them all, but if the company fails then surely at that point the government Can hoover it up for free, keep the staff, run the business and in time return it for sale to the private sector for sale (I say this as the government does not want to own stuff anymore) and ultimately profit.

Or is Branson not as rich as is thought? For a man who has the Wale that’s I mention surely £500m is not a lot of money is it? Failing that borrowing that sum from commercial markets must be doable if it’s backed by him personally?

Something does not smell right here.

West Side Story wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:41 am A week or so ago, I started a thread about this pretty unpleasant character, who I think some people have quite unfairly enhanced his reputation.

Thor wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:56 am So I heard on the radio yesterday that Branson wants a £500m bailout from the government and will put his Becker island worth £80m up as collatoroal. A couple of things if I may.

1) all his companies are registered in the BVI and trying to ascertain a paper trail or understand what they do or pay tax or where they pay it is nigh on impossible.
2) he has lived on that island for 14 years and as it’s a zero tax haven he has not paid one penny to HMRC in that time.
3) it’s a private company which will live and die by the decisions of his management team.
4) he is supposed to be worth £4-5bn depending on what you read, does he really need a bailout?

So all in all I do not beleive that the uk government should bail him out. I really feel for his workers and yes I’d love to support them all, but if the company fails then surely at that point the government Can hoover it up for free, keep the staff, run the business and in time return it for sale to the private sector for sale (I say this as the government does not want to own stuff anymore) and ultimately profit.

Or is Branson not as rich as is thought? For a man who has the Wale that’s I mention surely £500m is not a lot of money is it? Failing that borrowing that sum from commercial markets must be doable if it’s backed by him personally?

Something does not smell right here.

Dunners wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 1:21 pm He certainly has.

Although, he did have a point at the time about BA. They did not offer a great product and were only able to hold onto their market share courtesy of the slots they had at Heathrow.

EliotNes wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 1:59 pm He shouldn't get a penny of tax-payers money and he should never have got a knighthood. My dislike for the guy is huge.