Las Vegas Weekly

June 17, 2010 · 1:19 PM

Exclusive photos: Billionaire picks up Playboy Key — and Bunny

By Robin Leach

Sir Richard Branson at Moon in the Palms on June 16, 2010.

Photo: TVT

On this visit, he didn’t jump off the roof of the Palms, but Sir Richard Branson did just about everything else while here celebrating the 10th anniversary of his Virgin Atlantic flights from London to Las Vegas.

After a whirlwind 48 hours, Sir Richard told me as we stood looking at the neon and skyline of Las Vegas last night from the top-of-the-tower Moon patio at the Palms: “This is such a great city. I’m so glad we came here 10 years ago. It’s been great for Virgin and Vegas. You must love living here -- you’re lucky to live here. You have everything here.”

He urged his son Will to join him at the balcony walk wall, and they stayed there for nearly 30 minutes as Richard pointed out the sights and the aircraft flying in and out. “Now we’re making a bigger commitment to Las Vegas, and we’ll beat the $1 billion in revenues we’ve already chalked up so far,” he added.

Upon arrival, his first stunt was with fellow passenger burlesque beauty Dita Von Teese as they danced on the wing of the plane from London. Sir Richard also joined the cast of Viva Elvis onstage at Aria.

Then yesterday morning, he became the first person to ever ride a jet ski around Lake Bellagio and conduct the dancing fountains to Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon.” Thanks to Christopher Rauschnot @24kMedia on Twitter for his videos posted on YouTube. In the afternoon, he played host to tourism officials, British travel media and operators from El Dorado Ranch, where they went off on Grand Canyon helicopter flyovers.

Last night, it was a blowout Brit bash at Moon, where England’s traditional meal of fish and chips was served along with hors d’oeuvres. Richard took to the stage to remind guests that the last time he was at the Palms in October 2007, he’d jumped off the roof. He showed a video of that stunt where he badly cut his hands and backside when he rappelled down the side of the hotel as harsh winds pushed him into the wall.

“When my son was coming here by taxi tonight, he pointed out to his friend that this was where his dad had jumped off the roof. The kindly cab driver told him how sorry he was about that!” said Richard, who also told me, “I’m not about to do anything that crazy ever again. The ride around the Bellagio lake was quite enough. I’m exhausted from what we’ve packed into two days here. “

But he perked up when four Playboy Club Bunnies presented him with a key to The Playboy Club. “I’ve always wanted one of these, and I’ve always wanted to pick up a Playboy Bunny,” he laughed -- and promptly did so with one of the beauties cradled in his arms. The other highlight of the night was when Dita Von Teese reappeared to surprise guests with a sexy burlesque routine.

“It’s a much quieter life for me now,” Richard told me. He lives on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands of the Caribbean. I’ve been there as his guest several times, and he laughed: “I spend most of my time there now. I’m still not using a computer from there. I did give in for a Blackberry after all these years, but I still prefer writing everything by hand in my old school notebooks!”

It’s obvious that the zany British billionaire has still got all the energy, vigor and enthusiasm when he first launched Virgin flights 25 years ago.

He summed up: “I’m really excited about the new Manchester to Las Vegas flights starting next year. They will be very successful very quickly, and I honestly believe they will grow to daily service seven days a week quite quickly. The demand is definitely there. British people simply love Las Vegas -- me, too!”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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