Ex-BA boss Willie Walsh has lost a bet against Sir Richard Branson where the loser gets kicked in the groin – and Richard wants to get paid
Willie bet in 2012 that Virgin Atlantic wouldn’t exist five years later – and wagered receiving a kick to the privates if it did
2018 could be the year that Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson finally gets to knee Willie Walsh in the groin.
Willie is the CEO of IAG, which owns British Airways, and in 2012 he made a bet that Virgin Atlantic wouldn't exist in five years time, which Richard disagreed with.
He wagered that whoever lost the bet would get to knee the other in the groin.
Unfortunately for Willie, Virgin Atlantic is still going strong - and Sir Richard has a good memory.
With Virgin Atlantic still very much a successful brand, Sir Richard has urged him on his blog to stick to his “slightly churlish suggestion”.
But he's extended an olive branch happy and instead suggested Willie donates £1million to Virgin’s team so that he can share it amongst them.
This would be the second time that Richard has distributed a windfall from BA amongst his staff.
The rivalry between the two airlines started in 1993, when Richard sued Willie for British Airways’ "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin.
The campaign saw BA staff hack into Virgin’s flight systems, obtaining valuable information about the number of people boarding flights.
Having this information meant that BA could use the information to target Virgin customers with cheap deals, tempting them away from Richard Branson’s brand.
After BA were ordered to pay Virgin £3million in damages by the courts, the Virgin boss shared it out equally between his team as a Christmas bonus.
Writing on his blog, Sir Richard revealed all about the “very public and painful bet”.
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He wrote: “When will British Airways learn?
“Although people might be amused to see me give Willie a low blow, I ideally have no wish to do so. So to settle this matter once and for all, and in the spirit of Christmas, I suggest he donates £1 million to Virgin Atlantic’s team.
“If he doesn’t agree then we’ll just have to agree a time, date and place for the knee in the groin.
“Once this is over (one way or the other) lunch or dinner is on me Willie, and perhaps we can draw a line under the past.”