Billionaire Richard Branson Said His Late Wife Joan Was a Guiding Light in Their Relationship
"She was unlike any other woman I had ever met.”
Updated Nov. 26 2025, 10:22 a.m. ET
There are a handful of people in the world who hold 99 percent of the wealth. Some may call them the “elite” while others refer to these astronomically wealthy individuals as the “one percent.” Business guru and investor Richard Branson is part of that group.
In order to amass that kind of wealth, it helps to have a strong support system, and we don't just mean financially. Richard has been married twice. His first marriage to architect and designer Kristen Tomassi lasted seven years and ended in 1979. A decade later, he married Joan Templeman. The two were together until her death in November 2025. Here's what we know about the late Mrs. Branson.
Richard Branson's wife was a "Scottish beauty."
According to Richard, the two first met at an antiques shop called Dodo in Notting Hill, close to his Virgin office at Vernon Yard. Two years into their relationship, he bought the island where the couple would eventually get married and settle down. This was Necker Island, a 74-acre piece of land in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.
In 2020, after more than 30 years of marriage, Richard took to his blog to pen a love letter to Joan.
“I experienced love at first sight upon meeting a blond-haired, down-to-earth, Scottish beauty named Joan, who just happened to be making a cup of tea,” he recalled. “I generally make up my mind about someone within 30 seconds of meeting them, and Joan won my heart instantly. She was unlike any other woman I had ever met.”
Joan was a private person who preferred to remain out of the limelight. "She has always stood by me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually," Richard wrote. He went on to describe Joan as his rock, confidant, and guiding light. In a heartbreaking post to Instagram dated Nov. 26, 2025, Richard shared that Joan passed away "quickly and painlessly" while in the hospital recovering from a back injury. A cause of death has not been revealed.
Richard and Joan's first child died when she was a few days old.
In 1979, Richard and Joan's daughter Clare Sarah was born. Tragically, Clare was born three months premature, and she died just a few days later. In a 2009 interview with Piers Morgan, Richard described the experience as being "horrendous." He also said that it took many months for him to start to recover from the loss. "The mending process takes time, and it didn’t really start until Holly was born 18 months later … but I suspect for the mother it’s never completely completed, he said.
Richard and Joan welcomed their daughter, Holly, in 1981, and then had a son — Sam — in 1985. Today, Holly is a member of the Virgin Management Leadership team. She graduated from University College with Medical and Physiology degrees and has a passion for adventure, just like her father.
She and her husband have three children. Sam founded a production company called Sundog Pictures. He splits his time between London and Bali, and shares two children with his wife.
Here's what we know about Richard's first wife.
Richard married Kristen Tomassi in 1972. The two tied the knot in an Anglican marriage ceremony at Holy Cross Church in Shipton-on-Cherwell. The couple were only 20 and 21 years old at the time.
Unfortunately, due to some complicated intimacy issues, the couple did not last long. In Richard Branson’s autobiography, Losing My Virginity, Richard spoke about how whenever he and Kristen tried to be intimate, a painful rash spread across his body. "Kristen and I had a bizarre sexual allergy to each other," he wrote. After consulting with numerous doctors, nothing seemed to help. Eventually, they parted ways and divorced in 1979.