Richard Branson, the billionaire creator of Virgin Group, has shifted his resources and attention to a very personal new project: DyslexicU, the first free online university for dyslexic thinking.
What inspired you? Branson himself suffers from dyslexia.
“I dropped out of school when I was 15 years old due to dyslexia. I didn’t realize I was dyslexic. In an exclusive interview with NBC News last week, he said, “It wasn’t really invented when I was in school.” “And I went out into the outside world and learned my education from the University of Life… and what I’ve spent my lifetime doing is trying to explain to families and kids that dyslexia is a superpower.”
Clearly, it was for Branson.
The entrepreneur has spent over five decades building an empire that includes a record label, hotels, an airline, cruise ships, and even his own space travel enterprise.
“I just glanced at blackboards and couldn’t understand what was going on. “I’d sit in the back of the class, my mind racing with things I wanted to do,” Branson explained.
Branson stated that, while he was uninterested in scholastic topics like geometry and applied mathematics, dyslexia allowed him to focus on his skills. This enabled him to drop out of school and focus on founding the Virgin firms. And now he encourages dyslexic youngsters to follow their ambitions.
The institution offers two one-hour entrepreneurial classes and a commencement address by Branson that highlights other famous people with dyslexia, such as Muhammad Ali, Steve Jobs, and Pablo Picasso.
“If you’re a dyslexic person, you can go on and take one of the courses and learn more about how incredibly successful dyslexic people have used their dyslexic thinking to turbocharge their careers,” Branson’s co-founder Kate Griggs told NBC News. “If you are not dyslexic, you can continue reading to learn about how dyslexics think and how you might develop such abilities in order to succeed. Eventually, it will encompass everything from finance to advertising and space research.”
One thing this university will not have? Exams.
“I believe that examinations are among the worst things that have been developed for schools…” They’re basically knowledge-cramming devices for young’ skulls. Schools, on the other hand, should be locations where students can learn about current events around the globe,” Branson stated.
Branson, who has spent years working on philanthropy through his organization Virgin Unite to address global issues such as climate change and criminal justice reform, believes the world’s wealthiest individuals should do more to give back.
“Entrepreneurs who’ve also made money need to put pretty well all that money back into solving the world’s problems,” he says. “They need to use their entrepreneurial skills to try to solve the problems of the world.”
For the time being, he wants to urge parents of dyslexic children to empower future generations.
“Find out one thing that really interests them and let them put their energy behind that,” Branson said. “Don’t be too concerned if your test scores aren’t at the top of the class… We are a little different than others, and we should be appreciative for that.”