One of the main reasons why sports and analytics is a perfect combination is the data sources that include data points from topics as diverse as game scores and attendance and revenue figures.

FORBES: Sports And Analytics: A Perfect Couple

Branson is resisting a combination with Virgin.com for two reasons: He doesn't want to share ownership of Virgin.com and he doesn't want to go public just yet.

FORBES: Red Baron

For example, he successfully compromised the security of a bank using a combination of information he found on the Internet and information he obtained by calling employees and convincing them he had legitimate reasons for needing things like passwords and employee ID numbers.

CNN: Known vulnerabilities are No. 1 hack exploit