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May 2005 Suspended Reality at Virgin Airways
Oops! Gabriel Baldinucci tried to catch billionaire Sir Richard Branson over a 350-foot gorge in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, he dropped him. But the risk-taking founder of Virgin Airways was secured by a rope and bounced back. So, too, did Baldinucci, MBA ’00, who made it to the surprise ending of Branson’s so-called reality TV show The Rebel Billionaire, in which 16 entry-level entrepreneurs pitted brains, brawn, and brio for $1 million and the chance at a plum position with Branson’s Virgin Group. Floating weightless in a space simulator or balancing on a tightrope 75 feet above the ground were nothing compared to the overall intensity of the two-month competition, Baldinucci says. Contestants competed in business challenges on four continents, behind sometimes impenetrable language barriers. After each contest, members of the losing team faced a physical challenge intended to eliminate at least one of them from the show. Literally left on the tarmac when his teammate got spacesick and couldn’t finish the commercial they were filming, Baldinucci came back a week later for the finale and was chosen by the winner to assist in running one of Branson’s companies for three months. He started in February. Even if he didn’t win the grand prize, Baldinucci deems the experience a positive one. Getting to know Branson validated something Baldinucci believes about business. “You don’t have to be harsh or a jerk to be a leader. Richard is wildly successful, yet he rules with love, not fear. He trusts people.” No doubt about that. He trusted Baldinucci enough to leap into and out of his grasp over that gorge in Zimbabwe—and then keep him in the game. |
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