The youngest woman to have become a self-made billionaire ever. A former comedian and door-to-door fax machine saleswoman, Blakely founded the privately held Spanx undergarment business at the age of 27. Sales took off in 2000 when Oprah Winfrey endorsed the product and then when she signed a contract with QVC, 8,000 pairs were sold in the first six minutes. Married to a former rapper named Jesse Itzler, Sara Blakely intends to leave at least half of her wealth to charity and of her success comments: “In my wildest dreams I never thought I would have started with their butts. As it turns out, that was a great place to start”. A truly inspirational and decent lady.
Two stories to keep beside you
Sara Little (née Sara Finkelstein, AKA “Tiny Little”, “Corporate America’s Secret Weapon”,1917-2015)
An “improver” rather than a “creator”, Brooklyn born industrial designer Sara Little Turnbull believed “too many businesses designed products for the retailer rather than the customer”.
Evan Spiegel
This Stanford graduate supposedly turned down an offer of $3 billion for his “wildly popular” Snapchat app in November 2013 despite his operation having no revenue. A Pacific Palisades resident, Spiegel serves on President Obama’s Council on Technology & Media and “likes to surf and play with his Golden Retriever in his free time”. The […]
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