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Richard Branson, the billionaire behind the Virgin brand, has reportedly invested an undisclosed sum in Elon Musk's barmy Hyperloop supersonic tube train project.
Beardy gets to join the Hyperfruitloop board, according to the Beeb, and the firm will also add its ubiquitous Virgin moniker to Musk's firm's name, meaning it will now be known as Virgin Hyperloop One.
The rebrand and ascension of Branson to the board suggests that a large sum has made its way from billionaire Beardy into Hyperloop's coffers, though terms of the deal were not revealed.
"Ever since our creation, Virgin has been known for disruption and investing in innovative companies," burbled Beardy's PR flunkies. "Importantly, Virgin Hyperloop One will be all-electric and the team is working on ensuing it is a responsible and sustainable form of transport too."
"Virgin Hyperloop?"
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday October 16 2017, @02:42PM (6 children)
Ok, what is with this "Virgin" moniker that Branson loves so much anyway? Why would anyone pick this as a name for anything, unless they're some kind of prude or something?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday October 16 2017, @05:13PM (3 children)
What is wrong with Extra Virgin olive oil?
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(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday October 16 2017, @06:09PM (2 children)
That's not a brand name, that's a description. In a description, for some things, it's fine: "virgin" vs. "recycled", for instance, is a perfectly apt descriptor (this was used back in the days of vinyl records; the ones made of recycled vinyl were inferior because when they recycled them, the paper labels were kept in them and ground up and became part of the new vinyl, which resulted in poorer sound quality and/or durability). I'm not sure why it's used for olive oil (where "virgin" means no heat or chemicals were used in the extraction process, which degrades the nutritional quality), but again it's a descriptor, not a brand name.
I'm just questioning why this guy picked this weird word as a big brand name/trademark. If you fly on Virgin Airlines, does that means the flight crew are all virgins? Or that it only caters to virgins? Obviously, this is ridiculous, so why pick such a ridiculous brand name? If you just want to pick some random English word for a brand name, there's many, many other words that are completely inoffensive and innocuous.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday October 16 2017, @06:17PM (1 child)
I hear if you hijack and crash a Virgin Galactic spaceship into a space station, you can get 72 alien virgins in the afterlife.
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(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday October 16 2017, @07:28PM
See, you're proving my point. This "Virgin" name is stupid, and makes the company ripe for all kinds of jokes.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Monday October 16 2017, @10:21PM (1 child)
Ostensibly, it is because his company is (or originally was) registered in the Virgin Islands. Tax haven, I suppose.
OTOH, it is said that it is because the only people who would travel on his planes and trains are ones who have never done it before.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday October 17 2017, @01:20AM
No, I broke down and looked it up on Wikipedia. It came from his first record company back around 1971; his employees came up with the name because they were all completely inexperienced at business. For whatever reason, after that he just stuck with it for all his ventures.
I did see one really great thing about the guy on his Wikipedia bio: he absolutely hates neckties, and even jokes about cutting them off of people.