He is the youngest billionaire you never heard of...
Ben Francis
He was a pizza boy who built a $1.3B company with only $500.
His strategy was so simple yet effective, Nike, Puma and Adidas envy his success.
Now, he's worth $1.4 Billion—at 32. Here's his full story: 🧵
At 19, Ben Francis earned £4.90/hour delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut.
Today, he runs a fitness empire with offices on 3 continents.
But his journey started with a humbling reality that most founders never talk about...
Ben wasn't a good student.
His grades were so bad that his school didn't want him back for advanced studies.
His mom had to march into the school and beg them to give him another chance.
Forced to take business studies, Ben discovered he loved making websites and apps.
He made 7 failed websites and 4 failed apps before Gymshark.
But it was what he noticed at a fitness expo in 2012 that sparked the billion-dollar idea...
Ben got obsessed with bodybuilding and attended BodyPower expo.
All the fitness stars were American YouTubers who came to the UK once a year.
He spotted a massive gap:
Nobody made clothes specifically for serious lifters.
With just £500, Ben bought a sewing machine and screen printer.
He started making gym clothes by hand in his parents' garage...
He worked on Gymshark between pizza deliveries and university classes.
Every penny went back into the business, but sales were disappointing, until...
Early Gymshark was making about £300 a day online.
But Ben had a gut feeling - Gymshark needed a booth at the BodyPower expo.
The cheapest booth cost £3,000.
"I'd never seen £3,000 before," he admitted.
What happened next shocked everyone, including Ben himself...
For the 2013 BodyPower expo, Ben's strategy had 3 parts that accidentally created marketing magic:
• Shut down the website days before, creating artificial scarcity
• Created exclusive products only available at the event
• Invited fitness YouTubers to the booth as guests:
As Ben unloaded boxes from his van on the first day of the expo, he looked up and froze.
HUNDREDS of people were rushing toward his tiny Gymshark booth.
"At first, I thought they must be heading somewhere else," he recalled.
The Gymshark booth was swamped for the entire three-day event.
They sold EVERYTHING they had.
The team collapsed on the floor, exhausted.
At midnight, Ben reactivated the Gymshark website from his parents' living room.
In just 30 MINUTES, they sold £30,000 - 100x their daily average.
The site crashed because everything was set to "infinite stock."
This was the moment that changed everything...
Why did Ben succeed when big brands failed?
• He built real relationships with fitness YouTubers before "influencer marketing" existed
• He made clothes specifically for serious lifters, not casual gym-goers
• He sold directly to customers online only
After hitting £250,000 in revenue, Ben took the scariest leap:
He quit Pizza Hut and dropped out of university.
His parents never questioned his decision.
"They completely backed me," he said.
Ben's leadership evolved in two phases:
First, he "grabbed the business by the scruff of the neck" and ignored all retail advice.
"I had to drag it to where I thought was right."
Then came the harder part...
Most founders fail because they can't let go.
Ben did what many struggle with:
He hired people smarter than himself.
"The business was my absolute baby... I had to learn to trust people."
By date, Gymshark was:
• Selling $500 million yearly (website only)
• Employing 550+ people worldwide
• Running offices on 3 continents
• Worth over £1 billion
Not bad for a former pizza delivery guy...
Hi, I'm Ken Berenger.
I've spent 35 years as an entrepreneur in finance-related businesses, and I've rebuilt from nothing—twice.
My mission on X is to share the formula for asymmetric wealth, so you don't need to make the same mistakes. Follow me @KenBerenger.
We're solving water's 1 trillion opportunity with a pure capital play.
Water companies have the tech & manpower to fill the gap—they lack capital.
Our $100M Opportunity Zone Fund will bankroll them and give investors the real tax advantages they seek: http://offer.waterondemand.net
My mission is to share wisdom from the greatest wealth builders and spotlight once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that everyday people can access.
Follow me @kenberenger and let's debunk the secrets of wealth.
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