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His official name is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson. But, of course, he is certainly not stuffy.
He has incredible vision, and tremendous business skills, and he likes to challenge conventional widsom. And the formula has padded his bank account with a net worth in excess of $3 billion.
Now Branson wants to give it away to deal with the challenges of global warming. Over the next 10 years he is going to invest up to $3 billion to attack the problem. The proceeds will come from 100% of profits from a variety of his businesses at Virgin.
Basically, he will focus on renewable energy systems and technologies.
I'm sure Branson's email inbox is overflowing right now with pitches. With soaring oil prices, there has been an influx of startup companies trying to find ways to provide alternative energy approaches. This should also be good news for the long-term prospects of ethanol companies such as VeraSun (VSE) and Pacific Ethanol (PEIX), which has Microsoft's Bill Gates as an investor.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-21-2006 @ 4:52PM
Graydon B. Wadleigh said...
Do not understand the lack of interest in IESV as an alternant energy source. If they can prove the conversion of animal waste to a usable fuel, why not with a little modification doing the same with human waste??
9-21-2006 @ 10:01PM
wildstoic said...
Branson's primary interest is in CELLULOSIC ethanol, NOT corn ethanol as VSE makes and PEIX hopes to make.
Branson grants that corn ethanol is a necessary transitional step, but he has already made his corn ethanol investments alongside Vinod Khosla in a private company called Cilion.
The opportunity here is for companies that specialize in cellulosic ethanol. The public ones include SunOpta (STKL), BlueFire Ethanol(BFRE.pk), Colusa Biomass (CLME.pk), and Xethanol (XNL). BlueFire and Colusa will probably have an edge if/when California's Proposition 87 takes effect in that state as they are located there and Colusa uses native feedstock (rice straw). SunOpta is not an ethanol producer but a supplier of technology and engineering for cellulosic biofuel plants, currently building the world's first cellulosic ethanol plants for Abengoa Bioenergy and Celunol. Xethanol has come under attack lately and it is not yet clear if they are a legitimate player in this space.
In any event it is important to zero in on cellulosic rather than corn ethanol at this point, since cellulosic ethanol is the kind beloved of Branson, Gore, Environmentalists, etc.
9-22-2006 @ 3:23AM
Gary E. Sattler said...
E85? Yes, I mentioned that a few weeks ago. We're gearing up to make it out of wood chips here in Park Falls. Drop a note of thanks to our Governor Jim Doyle.
Imagine, a man like Mr. Branson, who puts his money where his mouth is, becoming a billionaire. What a novel concept. Take a lesson here.
I'd bet when he was a kid someone told him "talk is cheap"... and it stuck.
Someone please give him a pat on the back for me.
Tell him I said:
XSUNX
:)
9-22-2006 @ 11:50AM
wildstoic said...
This is a great general overview if anyone wants to learn more about CELLULOSIC ethanol and how it differs from corn ethanol:
http://www.harvestcleanenergy.org/enews/enews_0505/enews_0505_Cellulosic_Ethanol.htm