Pass the sick bag! Branson buddies up to Barack (and guess what, the pics slip out)
FED up with the winter weather? Still struggling to pay off those Christmas shopping bills? Never mind – at least someone’s having fun in the sun. Indeed, billionaire Sir Richard Branson was on the crest of a wave after his chum Barack Obama accepted an invitation to the tycoon’s privately-owned Caribbean island retreat.
The former US President was clearly keen for a little rest and relaxation just days after leaving the White House.
Mr Obama, 55, was in a jovial mood as he took on the Virgin boss in a watersports challenge. And – surprise, surprise – staff were around to record the event, allowing Sir Richard, 66, to post a series of photos and a video on his blog on Virgin’s official website yesterday showing the pair joking around in the sunshine.
In one picture they are play-fighting – the smiling tycoon has his hands around Mr
‘We set up a friendly challenge’
Obama’s neck as the former president pretends to punch him. Mr Obama and his wife Michelle spent a few days on Necker and the neighbouring island, Moskito, which Sir Richard also owns, after being flown to the British Virgin Islands on the Virgin boss’s private jet a fortnight ago. In his blog yesterday, Sir Richard said Mr Obama had told him how he had not been allowed to surf while in office.
‘So it was tremendous to offer him the chance to learn to kitesurf… I have also wanted to learn foilboard surfing,’ he wrote. Kitesurfing is riding a surfboard while being pulled by a kite. A foilboard is a surfboard with a hydrofoil underneath.
Sir Richard added: ‘We decided to set up a friendly challenge: could Barack learn to kitesurf before I learned to foilboard?
‘We agreed to have a final day battle to see who could stay up the longest. After all he has done for the world, I couldn’t begrudge him his well-deserved win.’