Billionaire Spotlight: Richard Branson

Worth: $4.2 billion
Source: Virgin
Residence: London

"Asked about his passion for attacking big problems in the developing world, Branson says: 'A waiter at my game reserve, Ulusaba, in South Africa, wrote a very strong poem before he died of AIDS that had a huge impact on me. It said, AIDS is not a disease, it is a way that is on Africa.' He spent his final days expressing concern about his governments attitude on HIV and AIDS. And I felt in his honor I needed to do something. So my wife and I decided to get tested for HIV in front of everybody in order to encourage others in South Africa to do the same. Then we helped set up a public-private partnership with the US government, Anglo American Thermal Coal, Ndlovu Medical Centre and Virgin Unite. It's called the Bhubezi Community Healthcare Centre, and it's based in a small community of Mpumalanga which has about 100,000 people. The clinic provides basic health care for those suffering from TB, HIV, and AIDS."

- His space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, recently announced a deal to fly scientists into space to carry out experiments and reseach.
-Launched US nonprofit the Carbon War Room, aiming to cut carbon emissions by getting businesses like shipping giant Maersk to pledge CO2 transparency
- With fellow billionaire Vinod Khosia, he's backing biofuels firm Gevo, which raised $107 million in February public offering