After quitting school, he moved back to London, where he began his first successful business. He started a magazine about youth culture, called The Student. It was produced by students, for students and was launched in 1966. Branson was able to attract significant advertisement from firms wishing to tap the student market; this enabled him to distribute the first 50,000 copies for free.
The 1960s in London, was known as the ‘swinging sixties’ And Branson admits he was living the life of a hippy, in a London commune – a large shared house, surrounded by the music and drugs of the age. However, although he may have been a hippie, Branson also had a keen business sense, and he set up a mail order record company, called Virgin to complement the student magazine. Virgin was suggested by one of Branson’s workers – who suggested the name because they were all new at business. Branson later said he got into business out of accident – not to make money, but out of frustration things weren’t better.