Richard Branson's Next Challenge

Cara Roberts photo

On a day when his luck nearly ran out, like his friend Steve Fossett's, British billionaire Richard Branson moved a step closer to joining the superheated Las Vegas casino business.

Branson, the founder and chairman of Virgin Group, confirmed Wednesday that he's working on a Las Vegas deal.

"We had some meetings today and I think Virgin will be flying over Las Vegas within a couple years," Branson told me during a red carpet interview at Tryst nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas.

Rumors have been flying for several years that Branson, one of Europe's most successful entrepreneurs, has plans to take on Las Vegas .

Meanwhile, with his injured hand heavily bandaged and still sore from another bruising stunt, Branson, 57, was counting his lucky stars.

In one of his most dangerous outings of all, Branson survived a wild and windy 407-foot plunge from the top of the Palms' Fantasy Tower.

"I've never done a stunt like that before," said Branson, who took such a beating that his tuxedo pants were torn apart. "That was my first fall like that. I've done some mad things but I've never done anything quite like that."

Tricky 20 mph wind gusts kept slamming him into glass and concrete during his fall. He was wearing a full-body harness connected to a cable.

" You're going 100 mph and you're banging against the wall. It was slightly unnerving. But I'm well, everything's fine."

Read the rest of this story in the amazing Norm Clarke's column.

BRANSON INJURED IN SUCCESSFUL STUNT AT PALMS

British billionaire daredevil Richard Branson suffered a cut hand and bruises during an 80-second per feet descent Wednesday from the 407-foot mark of the Palms’ Fantasy Tower.

A shaken Branson limped away to his room to change clothes after his pants were ripped during the wind-plagued stunt. Gusts of 20 miles per hour nearly caused Branson’s latest adventure to be postponed, a member of his team said.

Just before his descent in a full-body harness, Branson outstretched his arms and took the plunge from a perch near Moon nightclub near the top of the tower.

He was lowered by a high-speed cable winch, which was similar the same one used in Spider Man films.

Branson did not address the media, because of his medical needs.

— NORM CLARKE, Vegas Confidential from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Sir Richard Branson to rappel off Palms tower

Sir Richard Branson has another adventure up his sleeve, this time in Las Vegas.

The British thrill-seeker, who founded Virgin Airlines, loves a challenge, from dangerous transoceanic hot-air balloon races to sitting in a swimming pool in the middle of a hurricane.

Today he plans to rappel 40-some floors off the Palms Fantasy Tower to celebrate his inaugural Virgin America flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

Comedy magicians Penn & Teller will emcee the stunt, starting at 6 p.m.

This comes from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Not My Normal Kind of Post but Here is Britney Spears News

Britney Spears' disastrous appearance in Las Vegas killed a pending multimillion, 30-market tour deal, according to an insider.

"Everyone was waiting on that. The wild card was how she performed," said the source, an executive who was close to the deal with Live Nation, the world's largest producer of concerts.



"Everyone said 'no way.' She blew it bad," said the source.

Spears had hoped to launch her comeback, after a four-year hiatus, at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 9 at the Palms. Instead, she's not only back to square one professionally, but her continuing personal unraveling may have placed her on the music industry's radioactive list for some time.



This comes from Norm Clarke's column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal