A job interview with Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin brand, is likely to be nerve-racking enough on its own.
But when then-31-year-old lawyer Josh Bayliss arrived at Branson’s London mansion for what he expected to be a fairly standard interview, Branson realized he had another appointment across town—and was already running late. Rather than cancel the interview, Branson invited Bayliss to come along for the ride.
“It was probably on a good day, a 45-minute drive,” Bayliss recently recalled to Fortune. In reality, it turned into a two-and-a-half hour adventure that he took full advantage of.
“We got stuck in traffic, and that was great for me,” Bayliss said. “I got a chance to really interrogate Richard and find out a lot more about what made him tick.”
Bayliss ended up landing the job of general counsel in 2005—and that long traffic-filled interview marked the beginning of a relationship with Branson that would further shape his career. By 2011, Bayliss was promoted to CEO of Virgin Group—and just this year added company chair to his resume—overseeing a sprawling portfolio that includes an airline, telecommunications giant, gym chain, and commercial space-tourism business.
Nearly two decades after that first interview, Bayliss, now 53, said what drew him to Branson in the first place remains a defining part of the Virgin Group founder.
“There is an energy to Richard and an appetite to learn about what he doesn’t already know, to try what he hasn’t already tried, which I think really does blend very well with my own ceaseless curiosity,” Bayliss said.
Bayliss went from aspiring scientist to lawyer before setting his sights on the C-suite
Bayliss was born in Auckland, the capital of New Zealand, to a modest family, with his father playing guitar and a mother working as a hairdresser. Becoming a CEO was hardly something he had mapped out for himself growing up.
In primary school, he always wanted to become a scientist, inspired by the Incredible Hulk’s transformational superpowers. But after taking a few science courses, he realized his interests leaned more toward the humanities than STEM.
“I loved history. I did classics. I loved languages. I loved philosophy,” Bayliss said.
He went on to study history and Spanish literature as an undergraduate at the University of Auckland, graduating in 1996 before turning to law. His first job out of law school was as a judge’s clerk at the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, giving him a front-row seat to consequential decisions—and to people who could disagree fiercely without letting those disagreements become personal.
“I was exposed to some of the greatest minds I’ve ever been among, disagreeing profoundly over matters of huge importance for huge numbers of people, but never falling out over that disagreement,” Bayliss said.
That experience stayed with him as he moved to a law firm in Barcelona and then to London in 1999. But the further Bayliss progressed in his career, the less satisfied he became with advising the people making the big calls.
“I wanted to be making decisions. I wanted to take responsibility, and I wanted to be accountable for improving things for people in a commercial sense,” he said. He added that the opportunity to work at Virgin—and interview with Branson at age 31—gave him just that: the chance to combine his legal background with a growing role in leadership.
Gen Z interns ‘astonish’ Bayliss—and he says those who use AI can ‘move far more rapidly’ in their careers
More than two decades into his career at Virgin, Bayliss said the qualities that helped him advance are the same ones he looks for in the next generation of workers: curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking.
Gen Z interns, in particular, astonish him year after year, in part because of their willingness to stand by their values.
“I’m just so impressed with the caliber of the moral fiber of these young people,” Bayliss said. “I think they bring something to the table which is unbendable, and I think that’s so important.”
That conviction could prove especially valuable as AI continues to reshape the workplace. Bayliss views the technology as an “enablement tool rather than a replacement tool,” and believes young workers who pair it with strong human qualities can move faster early in their careers.
Bayliss added: “Those young people coming into the world of work are actually able to move far more rapidly through the early stages of their career.”
The post Richard Branson double-booked his own job interview. The candidate stuck in traffic with him for 2.5 hours is now Virgin’s CEO appeared first on Fortune.
