“Never underestimate the importance of celebrating,” Branson writes. “If you can remember a Virgin party, then you probably weren’t there.” Branson wishes his friends and followers a “wonderful” New Year’s Eve. “Have a blast,” he says. The popular party-loving billionaire also says to stay safe, though that’s hard to do when you’re getting so you can’t remember! Of course Branson has a driver–an essential ingredient if you’re planning on an amnesia-type blast.
It’s not just on New Year’s Eve that Branson advocates letting loose and making sure you mark the moment. The idea of fun is built into the Virgin culture. In a post called Why Parties Are Essential, Branson writes: “I have always believed that the benefits of letting your staff have the occasional blast at an after-hours get-together is a hugely important ingredient in the mix that makes for a family atmosphere and a fun-loving, free-spirited corporate culture. It also goes a long way to tearing down any semblance of hierarchy when you’ve seen the CFO doing the limbo with a bottle of beer in her hand.”
