Billionaire Richard Branson Heartbroken, Wife Dies at 80

British businessman Richard Branson has received sad news. His wife, Joan Templeman, has died at the age of 80. He paid tribute to her shortly after announcing her death, saying :

"life will never be the same without her."

The Virgin Group founder did not explain the cause of Templeman's death. However, in an Instagram post on Tuesday night, he said he was "heartbroken."

Templeman had recently been recovering from a back injury in a British hospital. Branson said they had enjoyed "fifty years of incredible memories."

"The years filled with tears and laughter, kindness and love that shaped our family are more than words can express," he said in a message shared on his Virgin Group website, as quoted by AFP on Wednesday (November 26, 2025).

"The relationship worked. We laughed a lot. We were very lucky."

The couple first met in London in 1976. The tycoon has previously said he fell in love with Templeman at first sight.

They married 13 years later, on the privately owned Necker Island in the Caribbean, which Branson bought in the late 1970s for $180,000 and has lived on for decades. Templeman has steadfastly avoided the public spotlight, with Branson describing her as a "humble Scottish woman" and a "very private person" who almost never gives interviews.

In her post on Wednesday, she said she "lived life to the full and fullest, always thinking of others, always supporting others." The couple have two children, Holly and Sam, and several grandchildren.