Sir Richard Branson has revealed he was left with a painful cut across his face after a bizarre accident at one of his own hotels — admitting he ran straight into a window. The Virgin billionaire, 74, shared a snap of his battered face on Instagram and poked fun at the incident with one of his trademark puns. He told followers: “Did you hear about the guy who ran into a window? He was in a lot of pane…”

Richard explained that he had been dining with the Planetary Guardians at the Virgin Hotel in New York City while discussing sustainable farming projects by Holganix when disaster struck. “This week, that guy was yours truly,” he wrote. “I was having dinner… Then I saw the Holganix team walk past. I wanted to introduce them to the group, so I sprinted to catch up with them – and ran face-first into the window. I left quite a mark on the glass – and it left quite the mark on me!”

Richard, 74, said he was helped by his pal Elizabeth, who stopped him from collapsing after the blow. “The delightful Elizabeth reacted quickly to stop me falling – we had a laugh about it the next day.”

He added that while the gash across his cheek looked dramatic, he had been lucky. “Thankfully there’s no serious damage done, I’m feeling fine and the cut is healing well. In the meantime, I’ll be sure to turn the other cheek!”

Fans quickly flooded the post with their own reactions. One quipped: “That’s some amazingly clean window! Heal well Sir!”

Another joked: “That just means the team is doing a great job keeping them clean! Lol.” A third wrote: “Omg! So sorry that happened to you! We hope you heal fast!”

The tycoon is no stranger to headline-grabbing incidents and brushes with danger. In the past he has survived hot air balloon crashes and bike accidents, but this time it was nothing more than a hotel pane of glass that brought him down.

It comes just weeks after Richard’s name was in the spotlight for a far grimmer reason. On 30 August, a team member died following an accident on his luxury Necker Island resort in the British Virgin Islands.

Virgin Limited Edition confirmed: “It is with deepest sadness that we can confirm that one of our Necker Island team members sadly passed away.

They were a hugely talented and exceptional member of the Necker Island family, and we are all devastated by this news. Our utmost priority is the wellbeing of their family and friends, and that of our team, and we are doing everything we can to support them all during this very difficult time.”

Police in the territory said the man suffered a head injury and was later pronounced dead in hospital. Another individual was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Richard, who bought Necker Island in 1979 for $180,000, was not on the island at the time but is understood to be “deeply saddened” by the tragedy.