From Pizza Delivery Man to Billionaire: The Rise of Gymshark’s Ben…

From Pizza Delivery Man to Billionaire: The Rise of Gymshark’s Ben…

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This story is part of a new feature series on success, Gasoline Inspire.

After just 11 years of founding the company Ben Francis has been catapulted to a status shared by only 0.35% of the world’s people: that of a billionaire.

The 30-year-old founder is the youngest billionaire in the UK and one of the youngest in the world, having built the Gymshark brand and worked as a pizza delivery boy while at university. The Solihull-based fitnesswear brand is valued at £1.25 billion ($1.5 billion) today.

Francis, who started the company in his family home after his grandmother bought him a sewing machine, currently owns 70% of the company — he had sold about 21% to General Atlantic for $300 million.

The billionaire’s journey to creating one of the most successful fitness brands in the world began when he was a student at Aston University, where he created the first version of the Gymshark website.

Also read: This entrepreneur turned a small investment into $340,000 a year in profit by buying a self-service car wash

The company’s business initially revolved around selling dietary supplements via dropshipping, according to Entrepreneur, who reported on it success of the young founder. However, the company changed course when Francis realized there was a shortage of fitness apparel that could fit him comfortably.

The discovery spurred the entrepreneur to create a clothing line that blended American bodybuilding fashion with tapered European designs. For the next two years, with the help of his grandmother, Francis personally made the products using a sewing machine and screen printer.

With a bit of luck and a lot of persistence, after appearing at the personal fitness fair in the UK, the brand launched the founder of Francis, dropping out of college to focus on the brand full-time.

Although Francis initially served as CEO in…

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