The UK’s youngest billionaire has opened up about his fortune saying he only has the money “on paper” – despite being worth over £1.2billion.
Ben Francis, 31, founded Gymshark at just 19-years-old in 2012 after falling in love with the gym. And despite the business being worth billions of pounds, Ben spoke candidly about the money on The SuperPower Podcast with Gian Power.
He shared a clip of the interview on TikTok with the caption: “My thoughts on wealth”. In the clip, he says that “none of it is real” and he doesn’t see wealth as a “measure of success”.
In the video, which racked up 1.6 million views, he said: “On paper, none of it is real”, when host Gian declared he was the UK’s youngest billionaire.
When asked how he feels being one of four self made billionaires under 60-years-old around the world, he said: “I never think about it, I don’t see it as a measure of success, it’s all on paper.
“People assume there is some bank balance with my name on it that has billions in which is just completely untrue, but I don’t want to put a downer on it, I am super proud of what we’ve achieved.
He added: “No individual should ever pin their self worth on wealth net worth. I see that as a wildly unproductive way to live. I just want to focus on my job, because I don’t do it for that, I do it because I work with great people and I am working on a cause that I genuinely care about and I’m passionate about.”
The Birmingham-born CEO made his debut on the Forbes billionaires list in 2023, having started the business from his parent’s house before going on to employ over 850 people.
Before dropping out of Aston University, he was also a delivery driver for Pizza Hut but now owns super expensive motorbikes and goes on lavish holidays.
Ben married Canadian model Robin Callant in September 2021, with the couple welcoming twin boys in 2022. The couple are regularly seen enjoying lavish holidays abroad, living a VIP lifestyle thanks to Gymshark’s success.
Ben originally started his company alongside friend Lewis Morgan.
Lewis, himself worth £125m, stepped back in 2014 after selling his shares because “money isn’t everything”, adding that “helping his family is the most important thing”.
