As I understand it, ntl Telewest took over Virgin Mobile and rebranded itself as Virgin Media, with Richard Branson as the largest shareholder. Why then is his cheesy grin plastered all over VM's promotional material, why are people talking about "his new empire", and why does the VM website refer to him "the Boss"? Is he? Or is his image considered a benefit to the new company? If so I think it's a misguided view. Am I missing something?