Sir Richard Branson’s wife Joan has sadly died aged 80, with the Virgin boss paying an emotional tribute to her after 50 years together.
The 75-year-old posted an emotional tribute to “the most amazing mother and grandmother” on Instagram.
“I am very sad to announce that Joan, my wife and partner of 50 years, has passed away.
“She was the most wonderful mother and grandmother our children and grandchildren could have ever asked for.
“She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world.
“Love you always Joan X”
In 1966, Joan married her childhood friend Ronnie Leahy but the couple divorced in 1978.
This was when she met Branson, whom she later married.
Joan met the business magnate in 1976 at his Virgin Records studio.
The couple married in 1989 on Branson Necker Island, a 74-acre island in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.
The couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 2016 and the Virgin boss wrote Joan a love letter as a tribute.
The letter included: “I experienced love at first sight with a blonde, down-to-earth, Scottish beauty named Joan, who was just making a cup of tea.
“I usually make up my mind about someone within 30 seconds of meeting them and Joan won my heart immediately. She was different from all the other women I had ever met.
“She was beautiful. She was bright. She was funny. She was down to earth. She was funny. And her eyes were made of magic.”
Branson is said to have a net worth of around £3.8 billion and is a self-made businessman who launched his company Virgin 50 years ago.
The Virgin boss was born in 1950 in Blackheath, London, and started his first venture, Virgin Records, in 1972, which he later sold to EMI in 1992 for £500 million.
The father of two started some very lucrative companies, including Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 and Virgin Trains in 1993.
He also has a keen interest in space and launched the space tourism company Virgin Galactic in 2004 with the hope of offering space travel in the future for £153,000 per trip.
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