Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

“Chicken or beef?” The typical Virgin Atlantic flight attendant question falls from my lips as Sir Richard Branson studies his menu. Without looking at me, the philanthropist, entrepreneur and adventurer tells me he gave up beef nine months ago after reading about the impact of cattle farming on rainforests. “I find that not eating meat doesn’t bother me at all,” he says.

Virgin Group

Investment group. Owner - Richard Branson. Revenue (2012) - $24 billion. Founded in 1970. More than 400 companies in 29 countries operate under the Virgin brand, engaged in air and rail transportation, organization of recreation, travel, sale of tourist tours. The group's companies operate in the entertainment industry (recording, music festivals, gambling), the financial sector (insurance, provision of loans, plastic cards, savings), in the field of telecommunications (fixed and mobile services), retail sales (books, alcoholic beverages, gift certificates). Virgin invests in alternative energy sources, health clubs, environmental projects.

The menu at Locanda Verde is clearly for carnivores, but I push thoughts of tartare aside and look for something that will soothe both my appetite and my companion's conscience. The sun-drenched restaurant in Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel is one of those Tribeca spots that's still packed five years after opening. Model and TV host Heidi Klum slows Branson down on his way to our table.

Branson has never been here before (he delegated the restaurant selection to his aides) and, as a man with a reputation for being a sybarite, he has no expectations for the food. "I'm very lucky that my lovely wife is a fantastic cook," he says softly. "But I'll eat whatever's given to me."

Waiting for his waiter, Branson orders casarecce, cauliflower, raisin and ricotta rolls, and for mains, garlic chicken with spinach and roasted potatoes. With the rainforest in mind, I choose a pickled beet salad for starter, then discover halibut on the menu. In 2011, Branson added saving the seas to his commitments by joining the Ocean Elders, a group of dignitaries that also includes Jordan’s Dowager Queen Noor al-Hussein and Ted Turner. Is the halibut OK, I ask Branson. He assures me it is. Instead of wine, he asks for a splash of orange juice in a glass of water. I order a bottle of sparkling water, no longer mindful of the environmental impact of the bubbles.

Earth through the porthole

Our lunch falls in the middle of a typical week for Branson. It begins in Montreal with a meeting with his Virgin Unite charity, then moves to Toronto to launch Virgin Mobile's training program for Canada's homeless. In New York, he's attending a press conference for the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a group of nine retired global leaders working to decriminalize drug use.

Then it’s off to Washington to have breakfast with Republican Senator Rand Paul before training in a centrifuge outside Philadelphia. Branson is bracing for the G-forces of a long-awaited suborbital spaceflight with Virgin Galactic, which he calls “the world’s first commercial space company.” Somewhere between these public appearances, he will also find time to run the eclectic collection of airlines, train companies, gyms, cellphone companies, radio stations, music festivals and banks on which he has built a fortune estimated by Forbes at $5 billion.

In person, Branson is almost a shy showman. He rarely makes eye contact, hiding his gaze behind a shock of silver-gold hair, and plays with his pen as he talks about his latest venture. Exploits like hot-air balloons and high-speed boats are a thing of the past; at 64, he is set to seek new thrills in space. “You go from zero to 3,500 miles an hour in eight seconds,” Branson says. At 4.5 Gs, “you feel it in your body.”

His dream of experiencing the "Earth-viewing effect" that astronauts talk about has been delayed for about seven years, but he now hopes to launch from a "spaceport" in New Mexico next March with his 29-year-old son Sam.

Branson is in the space race with his billionaire friends Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk and Google co-founder Larry Page (Branson was the master of ceremonies at Page's wedding at the latter's home in Necker, British Virgin Islands, where Musk's home is next door). He has dreamed of rockets since watching the Americans land on the moon in 1969, but insists the race is more than a rich man's whim.

"The space company will be our flagship," the entrepreneur says. "Because we are the only private company in the world sending people into space, every company in the Virgin group will be in the spotlight in the next few months." The interview took place before the crash of SpaceShipTwo, the ship on which Branson is planning to fly into space (see inset).

Live your life

Our starters arrive - a plate of steaming pasta is placed in front of Branson, he picks up a piece of cauliflower, says it's delicious. It's been 30 years since his Virgin label transformed itself from an independent record label into a rival to British Airways. But Branson's latest plan, as ever, is to get into a business he knows little about and wants to improve.

He is building two “very big” cruise ships “to see if we can attract people like me who have never been on a cruise”. He seems unfazed by the fact that he is entering an unfamiliar business: “The most important thing in running a company is to be a good listener”. He sees cruising as a mismanaged industry – just as airlines were in the 1980s. I remember my first flights on Virgin Atlantic, with cheap tickets, ironic stewardesses and free ice cream (I met my future wife on one of those flights). But in the post-9/11 era of plastic knives and high prices, has Virgin Atlantic lost what made it special?

“I’m always nervous about it,” Branson muses. He insists the company’s experience from its days with just one plane is good, but admits that “other airlines have done everything they can to catch up.” Virgin Atlantic, too, has waited five years for a new fleet, but is finally flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner: “It will change perceptions.”

The airline has never been the most profitable part of Branson's group. It halved its losses last year to £51m, and management is promising a profit this year. Exact figures are always elusive in such tax-efficient holdings, but Branson says Virgin Group is "in the strongest position it has ever been", with plenty of cash and no net debt.

The group’s business model also allows it to spread its cash more carefully than its own brands. Delta Air Lines now owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic, Branson sold his small stake in the Virgin Media telecoms business, and Virgin itself has invested about $500 million in the Virgin Galactic space company, but 30% of that total has come from Abu Dhabi. Many of its businesses are controlled by other investors, from whom Virgin collects royalties for the use of its name.

The model allows Branson to engage in seemingly bizarre diversification while taking limited risk. So while the two cruise ships will cost $2 billion, “we will bring in external partners,” he notes. In 2012, Virgin reported “global brand revenues” of £15 billion, but it is never clear how much of that cash flow comes back directly to Virgin.

Virgin's finances are set to be bolstered in the coming months by the listing of two of its companies. Virgin Money, the UK financial services company, plans to raise £150m in a London flotation, while Virgin America, the US budget airline in which the group has a 22% stake, has filed paperwork for an IPO in New York. The company is expected to be valued at $1bn, but the well-trained Branson has not commented.

Although the ubiquitous Branson is involved in marketing all the Virgin-branded businesses, he spends far less time on business than on philanthropy and personal pursuits. Halfway through his pasta and back to his pen game, he says he delegates far more than picking a restaurant for an interview. “I learned to do that in my early 20s. It allows me to live my life,” he says. Branson’s lifestyle – a Caribbean home, kite surfing, and regular attempts to break world records (he holds four, including the title of oldest kite surfer to swim the English Channel) – is an important part of his easy-going brand.

"Age, what can you do!"

In September, he told staff they could take as much annual leave as they wanted, as long as they "felt 100% comfortable that they and their team could handle all the projects." Branson says he has long taken long vacations, devoting two to three hours a day to the business but delegating enough "to have time to raise my children."

He has just completed a new home on Necker for his children, Sam and Holly, who are about to become parents themselves (Holly is expecting twins) and are becoming increasingly important figures in Branson's philanthropy, adventures and company.

“They wanted to test themselves,” he says, referring to Holly’s medical studies and Sam’s film production company. Both now talk openly about one day taking over from their father in business. “I think companies benefit from having a face, particularly family businesses – and Sam and Holly have younger faces than I do,” adds Branson. It’s been 46 years since he founded his first business, a youth magazine called Student, as a 17-year-old student. “It’s a long time ago, but obviously I’m hoping for 20-year-olds,” he pauses, implying that handing over the company to successors is a distant prospect. He wants Virgin, like Apple, to become “a global, respected brand that hopefully outlives its creator”.

The unanswered question is whether his children will be able to hold together a group as diverse as Virgin, in which its founder played a central role. As if on cue, he apologizes for having to go: “Age, what can you do!” As Branson leaves, one of his aides comes to tell me that we have only 10 minutes left: the Virgin founder has another meeting ahead.

We've been talking for an hour, and there's no sign of the main course. I call the waiter in irritation, demanding food and the bill. He turns pale and quickly disappears into the kitchen.

When Branson returns, I ask him about his decision to move entirely to the British Virgin Islands, which has been much publicised and hostile in the British media, having sold his Oxfordshire home last year. Britain's most popular entrepreneur justifies his decision on purely personal grounds: "If someone comes to Necker, they will immediately realise what a lovely place it is to live."

Time is running out, but our food finally arrives – a glistening hunk of yellow halibut for me, a crispy chicken leg for my guest. He growls, “These American portions.” Oddly, he hasn’t mentioned his seventh book, The Virgin Way, the formal occasion for our interview. I ask why he wrote it. “If life has been good, I think it’s important to capture what can be instructive for future generations,” he replies. He then admits that he hasn’t read many management books himself. Although such an admission is unlikely to help book sales, he adds, “I think the best way is to do it, rather than read books.”

The chicken leg is too big for Branson. "I don't want it to go to waste," he tells the waiter and asks him to wrap up the rest to take away. We've been talking for an hour and a half, but my interlocutor doesn't seem to be in a hurry. The waiter asks if we'd like tea or coffee and brings us drinks for free - I've already paid the bill. Branson chooses tea: "When I drink too much coffee, I'm not myself." But then two of his employees come in and say they need to leave for their next meeting immediately. He offers them the chicken leg, but they take Branson away so quickly that they don't have a chance to try the chef's food. The billionaire gets up from the table, smiles goodbye and leaves me alone with my unfinished tea and the remains of my lunch.

Person - Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group