The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best Media Man Australia

The Rebal Billionaire - Branson's Quest For The Best

The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best was a reality show for Fox Broadcasting Company's autumn 2004 season.

Premise

The premise for the series was that billionaire Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Worldwide, challenges 16 contestants to tasks that will prove to him which is most qualified to take over as president of Virgin Worldwide. This format is strongly derivative of popular NBC reality show The Apprentice, though as well as business-related tasks it also incorporates many tough physical challenges, reflecting Branson's love of daredevil stunts. Each week also saw the contestants travel to a different country, whereas The Apprentice is just situated in one area. Shawn Nelson, founder and Chairman of LoveSac, was the winner of the first and, so far, only season.

Presentation

The one hour show premiered on November 9, 2004 on the Fox network, and aired ten episodes. Though the ratings were disappointing compared to Donald Trump's hit show, Fox aired the show in its entirety, and the show has been aired in other countries like Australia as well as Branson's home of the United Kingdom.

Contestants

* Shawn D. Nelson (winner) - Founder of LoveSac Corporation
* Sara Blakely - Founder of Spanx, Inc.
* Jess McCann - Medical Sales, now entrepreneur and author of "You Lost Him at Hello."
* Gabriel Baldinucci
* Heather MacLean - Founder of Little Laureate
* Erica Vilardi
* Nicole Harvat
* Candida Tolentino
* Steve Berke - Founder of Mooshpillow.com
* Michael Zindell - Executive Recruiter, Big 4 CPA
* Jermaine Jamison
* Sam Heshmati
* Jennifer Grinspan
* Tim Hudson
* Spencer
* Aisha Crump (Credit: Wikipedia)