The Rebel Billionaire

Infobox Television
show_name = The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best


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genre = Reality television
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writer = Tod Dahlke, Laura Fuest
director = Leslie Garvin, Sean Travis
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executive_producer = Richard Branson, Tod Dahlke, Laura Fuest, Kevin Lee, Lori Levin-Hyams, Jonathan Murray
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producer = Tess Gamboa (senior producer), Darren Roth (associate producer), Dave Neglia (associate producer), Jeff Schmidt (segment producer), Bechara 'Bicha' Gholam (segment producer) Danny Kon (segment producer), Farzin Toussi (line producer)
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co-producer = Craig Spirko, Sean Travis
editor = Chris Collins, James Gavin Bedford, Larry Druker, Todd R. Lewis, Matt McCartie, Jeff Savenick, Joe Shugart
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cinematography = Mark Jungjohann, Marc McCrudden
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first_run = 9 November 2004
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imdb_id = 0412106
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"The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best" was a reality show for Fox Broadcasting Company's autumn 2004 season.

Premise

The premise for the series was that billionaire Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Worldwide, challenges 16 contestants to tasks that will prove to him which is most qualified to take over as president of Virgin Worldwide. This format is strongly derivative of popular NBC reality show "The Apprentice", though as well as business-related tasks it also incorporates many tough physical challenges, reflecting Branson's love of daredevil stunts. Each week also saw the contestants travel to a different country, whereas "The Apprentice" is just situated in one area. Shawn Nelson, founder and Chairman of LoveSac, was the winner of the first and, so far, only season.

Presentation

The one hour show premiered on November 9, 2004 on the Fox network, and aired ten episodes. Though the ratings were disappointing compared to Donald Trump's hit show, Fox aired the show in its entirety, and the show has been aired in other countries like Australia as well as Branson's home of the United Kingdom.

Contestants

*Shawn D. Nelson (winner) - Founder of LoveSac Corporation
*Sara Blakely - Founder of Spanx, Inc.
*Jess McCann - Medical Sales, now entreprenuer and author of "You Lost Him at Hello." [http://www.jessmccann.com/]
*Gabriel Baldinucci
*Heather MacLean - Founder of Little Laureate
*Erica Vilardi
*Nicole Harvat
*Candida Tolentino
*Steve Berke - Founder of Mooshpillow.com
*Michael Zindell - Executive Recruiter, Big 4 CPA
*Jermaine Jamison
*Sam Heshmati
*Jennifer Grinspan
*Tim Hudson
*Spencer
*Aisha Crump

Broadcasting

* - Broadcast on Studio 23
* - Broadcast over the summer non-ratings period on Channel Seven
* - Broadcast on FOX
* - Broadcast on Global T.V. during the summer
* - Broadcast on TVB Pearl
* - Broadcast on OTV
* - Broadcast on TV3
* - Broadcast on ITV2
* - Broadcast on FX
* - Broadcast on FX
* - Broadcast on 8TV
* - Broadcast on Mnet Series
* - Broadcast on Plug TV
* - Broadcast on TV8 during the end of 2007
* - Broadcast on TV3
* - Broadcast on TV3
* - Broadcast on KTN
* - Broadcast on FX
* - Broadcast on International Channel Shanghai

External links

*imdb title|id=0412106|title=The Rebel Billionaire
* [http://www.realitytvworld.com/therebelbillionaire/ The Rebel Billionaire] at Reality TV World
* [http://archive.salon.com/ent/feature/2004/11/09/billionaire/index.html Salon.com article about the show]