It wasn’t long ago that the reality billionaires battled it out in primetime, with Sir Richard’s Rebel Billionaire challenging The Donald’s Apprentice and Marc Cuban contributing his own take. (Cuban’s show had the best business lessons, by the way, while Branson’s had the best adventure.) Along the way, the billionaires also took jabs at each other, with Trump at one point even saying that Branson couldn’t be worth much because airlines lose money.

Well, the good people of Forbes Magazine beg to differ…

245. Richard Branson, Britain, age 55, $2.8 billion (from Virgin)

278. Donald Trump, New York, age 60, $2.6 billion (from real estate)

428. Mark Cuban, Texas, age 48, $1.8 billion (from Broadcast.com)

It’s still pretty close, but good to see that Branson edged out Trump by "just" $200 million. Amusingly, from Trump’s eternal arrogance, you would think that he was among the top 10 richest in the world, but a whole 277 people are richer. And much more than the money, if Sir Richard can show young children that a high-school dropout and balloon enthusiast can do business his way and still make more money than The Donald, well… that’s practically a public service announcement. The More You Know, indeed.  

PS: For anyone who thinks I admire Branson for his money, a long-time family friend is listed in the top 25, much higher than Sir Richard— but you don’t see me blogging about him. (Would be easier for me to get an interview with him too.) But Branson’s business style and flair for adventure are what make him worth writing about…

Just watched the two-hour premiere of The Rebel Billionaire, and I have to say, I liked it quite a lot. I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of Fear Factor type shows, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But right from the start, with a dig at Donald Trump by having a Donald look-alike get out of a posh limousine while Branson got out of an average black cab, the show was very amusing while also making excellent points about what really matters for business success. [Read more]

Well, it’s finally here… After months of waiting, Sir Richard’s new series, The Rebel Billionaire, premieres tonight at 8:00pm (7:00pm Central) on the Fox network. Yahoo News has a review, with this interesting quote…

Given Branson’s involvement as host and the way in which this unscripted series has been promoted, there’s an expectation that this will be little more than a copy of "The Apprentice." Such an accusation would be entirely unwarranted. This actually is a copy of "Fear Factor" and "The Amazing Race."

Pretty close to what I was hoping for, but probably more fun and ratings-minded than my idea was. [Read more]

Slate has an article about how Branson and Trump are polar opposites, a theory I’ve been positing for about three years now. One great observation:

There’s a final area in which Branson and Trump are polar opposites. All billionaires possess massive egos and a healthy self-regard. And it’s a sure thing that the rumpled Branson spends plenty of time gazing at himself in the mirror and admiring the view. But Branson’s view of businesses is outward-looking and centered on others while Trump regards his enterprises as projections of his ego. Deutschman notes that "the person Branson admires most in the world is his friend Nelson Mandela." I think we can all guess whom The Donald thinks is the fairest of them all. (Hint: It’s not Melania.)

Another great point: In their attitudes and business styles, the brash British Branson epitomizes the American entrepreneurial spirit while the stuffy American Trump seems aristocratically European.

The Business 2.0 blog covered Marc Cuban’s talk at Web 2.0, with Cuban’s note on Branson’s upcoming realty TV show: "I think he [Branson] will have the best show of all three of us [Trump, Cuban, Branson]." Nice.

Fast Company compares Trump’s The Apprentice, Mark Cuban’s The Benefactor, and Sir Richard’s new Rebel Billionaire, and in the process, highlights a Branson quote exactly in the direction of why I wanted a Branson show a year ago:

"Trump’s whole approach was ’Don’t trust your best friend,’ " Branson told the New York Post. "I don’t believe that’s correct."

It’s possible to both do well and do good, though you’d never guess that by listening to Trump.

[This post on bransonblog.com was originally written for John’s stanforth.org blog.]

At one point in 1996, when I worked for a tv studio with seven shows on the air, I thought about how great it would be to be in development, dreaming up new ideas for shows, all that. But that fleeting thought passed and I never really gave it a second thought. Fast forward to last tv season when Donald Trump’s new reality show, The Apprentice, premiered, and I found myself watching every week. Old friends called to ask how thrilled I was, since I was quite a Trump fan back in 1988-1990 (in my defense, I was 15— young and stupid), but I instead had one answer for them all:

"It’s ok, I guess, but you know what would be really amazing? Take the Apprentice concept, but instead of Trump, who makes my skin crawl, have [Virgin Group founder] Sir Richard Branson, and then make it a cross between the Apprentice format and that of Amazing Race [the only other reality show I can stand], where the competitors fly around the world doing different tasks. And it would be brilliant branding for Branson! Imagine: They can fly everywhere on Virgin Atlantic. They can have tasks involving his many far-flung Virgin Megastores. You can even get them to all drink Virgin Cola, which should, like, double the number of Virgin Cola drinkers. And Branson will finally get good publicity to American audiences who don’t know who he is." [Read more]