Speaking at McAfee's Focus11 conference in Las Vegas, Branson, who featured in an Apple commercial some years ago, said that while both the Virgin and Apple brands no longer needed dedicated founders to help push them forward, the companies did benefit from having front people. He was already looking to "pass on" the Virgin baton to his son or daughter.

"It is good to have a face because people relate to companies [with a public figure]. It is sad that Steve Jobs' kids are so young so it will be very difficult for them," he said.

"However, I'm sure the team at Apple will try to make sure his legacy continues for many years to come."

Branson, who learnt to delegate day to day operations to his managers early -- Virgin Group is now made up of 400 separate companies -- said that while he admired Jobs, he could never embrace his hands-on approach to management. "Steve had a very different kind of management style, one that I wouldn't recommend, but it worked extremely well," he said. "He was very autocratic, would not delegate and had all the minutia he wanted to be involved in."

According to Branson, Jobs' personality was "not necessarily that of a great people person."