Ben Francis, a former pizza hut delivery guy who became the U.K.’s youngest billionaire by building a billion-dollar sportswear brand using TikTok and Instagram.
Unlike other sports brands that pay billions for superstars to rock their apparel, Francis became a billionaire by paying relative pennies to social media fitness fanatics to pump up his brand.
Apparently, Francis was initially interested in computing and started his first business selling car number plates online. Suddenly at age 18, he became obsessed with weightlifting, spent his free time at the gym, and developed two fitness applications: Fat Loss Abs Guide and iPhysique.
Source: benfrancis.com
While he was at the university, he worked for Pizza Hut as a delivery boy, earning £5 an hour, and saved up to purchase a sewing machine, which he used to make the first pieces of Gymshark gear. He learned how to sew from his grandmother.
Suddenly, Francis dropped out of the university in 2012 to focus solely on founding his company and quit his job as a delivery boy six months after he launched his company, Gymshark.
Source: benfrancis.com
In his pursuit to follow his passion, he started Gymshark in his parents’ garage, initially as a fitness supplement company, then moving to dropshipping from other vendors. It took him six weeks before he could make his first sale.
As Gymshark opened its own branded gym in 2019, his passion started paying off. Fast forward to August 2020, when Gymshark sold a 21% stake to General Atlantic, a US private equity firm, for $300 million in a deal valued at $1.45 billion.
Source: benfrancis.com
Francis has a stake of over 70% in Gymshark, currently valued at $1.45 billion. He’s currently worth $1.3 billion as of April 2023, when he debuted on Forbes’ annual world’s billionaire list as the 2,259th richest person in the world. Wow, he did all that within 8 years.
He’s now a successful businessman and was awarded the EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Francis was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2020.
Source: Gymshark
Francis’s story is more than just a business success; it’s about relentless pursuit and passion. Whichever sector you are in, dream of starting your own venture. Keep pushing boundaries and do not give up.
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