⚡ Get All Content for 20% Off ⚡

Richard Branson's Biggest Mistake: Inventing the iPod… as a Prank The entrepreneur ultimately only pranked himself when he failed to follow through on his fictional 'Music Box' concept.

By Kate Taylor

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

REUTERS | Luke MacGregor

Richard Branson is a prankster-extraordinaire. But some of his most memorable April Fools' Days have been the ones where he ends up being the butt of the joke.

Branson recently published a LinkedIn post on his "best mistakes" – two April Fool's Day jokes gone awry. One landed him in jail for a night, while the other may have inadvertently inspired the iPod.

In the early 1990s, Branson tried to prank his friend and Virgin Records partner Ken Berry by faking a robbery of his home. Unfortunately for Branson, Berry returned home to discover all his belongings missing before Branson intended and called the police. In a masterful counter-prank, when Berry realized what had happened, he convinced the police to lock Branson up for a night in jail.

Related: Richard Branson on How to Calm Public Speaking Jitters

Another one of Branson's memorable pranks that didn't go exactly as planned was a 1986 exclusive published in Music Week magazine. Branson claimed that he had secretly invented a "Music Box" that could store every song you wanted to listen to on a tiny device, something that sounds familiar to anyone who has listened to music on an iPod in the last decade. In fact, years later, Steve Jobs told Branson that the Music Week article helped inspire him in developing iTunes and the iPod.

"ITunes went on to change the music industry forever and resulted in the closure of Virgin Megastores," writes Branson. "Perhaps not acting upon my joke and creating the Music Box for real was my biggest mistake!"

However, the entrepreneur doesn't seem too upset about the unexpected repercussions of April Fools' Days past. He closes out the post writing: "Thankfully, as I have said before, the best thing about ideas is that they are like buses – there is always another one coming."

Related: Richard Branson on Learning to Delegate

Kate Taylor

Reporter

Kate Taylor is a reporter at Business Insider. She was previously a reporter at Entrepreneur. Get in touch with tips and feedback on Twitter at @Kate_H_Taylor. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Remote Side Hustle a 43-Year-Old Musician Works on for 1 Hour a Day Earns Nearly $3,000 a Month: 'All From the Comfort of Home'

Sam Ziegler wanted to supplement his income as a professional drummer — then his tech skills and desire to help people came together.

Marketing

Ever Wonder Why Certain Websites Rank Higher Than Yours? This SEO Expert Reveals The Secret to Dominating Search Results

It's often the smart use of SEO, now supercharged with AI, particularly in keyword optimization.

Leadership

Former Interrogator Shares 5 Behaviors Liars Exhibit and How to Handle Them

Five deceptive behaviors to look for and how to respond to those behaviors when you encounter them.

Business News

AI Is Impacting Jobs. Here Are the Gigs Affected the Most, According to an Analysis of 5 Million Upwork Postings

The researcher said in the report that freelance jobs were analyzed first because that market will likely see AI's immediate impact.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.