14 Virgin companies that even Richard Branson could not stop going bust

It's fair to say that Richard Branson has taken a scatter-gun approach to his professional life since he started his first business in 1966. The mogul has since launched more than 400 companies under the Virgin brand. Virgin has plastered its name on everything from airlines, to wine clubs, to underwear.

It should come as no surprise that some of these have become spectacular failures.

It times of failure, Branson has said recognizing mistakes and recovering are essential skills for an entrepreneur:

My mother drummed into me from an early age that I should not spend much time regretting the past. I try to bring that discipline to my business career. Over the years, my team and I have not let mistakes, failures or mishaps get us down. Instead, even when a venture has failed, we try to look for opportunities, to see whether we can capitalize on another gap in the market.

Below are 15 examples of Branson's less successful ventures. Some lasted just months, while others were profitable for many years, until becoming victims of changing times.

Mallory Russell compiled an earlier version of this report.