Their business brains earned them a fortune – all before they were 21. Most teenagers dream of coming up with an idea that will make them a million by the age of 21, but only a lucky few will actually achieve such success.

Here, we take a look at some of the world’s most enterprising youngsters, many of whom started their companies in their bedrooms, only to go on to build multi-million pound business empires.

Some, like Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg are now household names, but other young achievers are less well-known. From selling spectacles to building websites for ‘tweens’, we reveal how they made their money…

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Image: Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

1. Mark Zuckerberg made his name as one of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs after launching the social networking site Facebook from his Harvard dormitory six years ago. He began developing computer programs while he was still at school. Initially, Facebook was only launched for Harvard students, but it wasn’t long before the site became a global phenomenon. Now aged 26, Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in the world, with a net worth of $10 billion (£6.4 billion) in 2010. A film based on his life and the setting up of Facebook is due to be released in October this year. Employers no doubt curse the day Zuckerberg had his brainwave – recent research suggests that companies lose around £14 billion a year as workers spend office hours trawling social networking sites.

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Image: David Livingstone - Getty Images

2. Fraser Doherty is one of the few young entrepreneurs who doesn’t owe his success to the internet. After his grandmother taught him her secret jam recipe at the age of 14, he launched SuperJam, a range of ‘100% fruit jams’. The jam is supplied to over 1,000 supermarket stores nationwide, including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose. He also runs a charitable project, arranging tea parties for lonely elderly people who are housebound or in care. The SuperJam business, which sells over 500,000 jars a year, is estimated to be worth well over £1 million. Some might say he’s been jammy.

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Image: David Livingstone - Getty Images

3. Doctor Farrah Gray is the youngest child of a single parent family and grew up in the impoverished south side of Chicago. He started work at the age of six, selling home-made body lotions and his own hand-painted rocks as book ends. At the age of 14, he became a self-made millionaire having founded and operated several business ventures, including KIDZTEL pre-paid telephone cards and an interactive teen talk show. He is a best-selling author and chief executive of Farrah Gray Publishing, receiving an honorary doctorate degree of human letters from Allen University at the age of 21.

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Image: Murphx

4. Carl Churchill, often referred to as the British Bill Gates, Churchill started his career as a web designer at the age of 12. His first companies – Bits New Media and Bits and PCs – were launched while he was still at school. At the age of 19, he was making more than £1 million from his next company DMC Internet. Since then he has led several successful computer and internet companies. Rich List guru Philip Beresford has suggested that Churchill will be worth £100 million by 2020. He is currently a director at Murphx, which provides internet connection services for companies including the BBC.

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Image: Myung Jung Kim - PA

5.  Adam Hildreth (pictured second left) was just 14 when he started Dubit Limited along with his fellow directors – all of whom were still teens. Dubit became one of the biggest social-networking websites for teens in the UK. Aged 19, he was worth £2 million, according to the 2004 UK top 20 Richest Teens list. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List ranked Hildreth as 23rd in the 100 richest young people in the UK, based on a valuation of £25 million. Hildreth’s latest enterprise is Crisp Thinking, which develops software to help children and teenagers surf the internet safely.
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Image: Miss O

6. Juliette Brindak – not many 20-year-olds are able to boast that they are worth more than $15 million (£9.6 million), but thanks to her website MissOandFriends.com, Juliette Brindak can. Brindak came up with the idea for the site, which targets ‘tween’ girls – too old for dolls but too young for teen idols such as Britney Spears – when she was just 10. Her mother, an art director and illustrator, worked with her to develop the ‘Miss O’ characters. Her first book was published at the age of just 16, selling more than 120,000 copies. She is currently a student at Washington University in St Louis.

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Image: Jagex

7. Andrew Gower was a student at Cambridge University when he came up with the massively successful online computer game RuneScape. He started creating computer games at the age of seven, coming up with a 3D game called Parallax Painter for the Atari ST as a teenager. He then began trading as Jagex, launching a series of internet-based video games between 1996 until 1999, before creating the hugely popular RuneScape game at the age of 20. In 2009, the Sunday Times listed Andrew and his brother Paul as the 566th richest men in the UK, worth an estimated £99 million.

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Image: Indigo - Getty Images

8. James Murray Wells spotting a gap in the market, set up Glasses Direct – an online retailer selling spectacles – while he was still at university. The site, which he funded using £1,000 of his student loan, sold 22,000 pairs of glasses in its first year alone and had an annual turnover of £1 million. In 2007, venture capitalists provided £3 million funding. In February this year, he set up hearingdirect.com, selling digital hearing aids online. When starting Glasses Direct, Murray Wells adopted a dog called Sapphie as an office mascot, later naming a pair of glasses frames after her.

Source: msn money

He has vowed that he will not stop building the business he established only a year ago until it is worth £100m.

But hard-working Christian Owens can afford to pause for at least a moment’s celebration after making his first £1m aged just 16.

The schoolboy entrepreneur used his pocket money to fund his first venture, website Mac Box Bundle, at just 14 – which has taken £700,000 since its launch in 2008.

He then launched advertising pay-per-click company ‘Branchr’ a year later and worked on the business after school and at weekends.

Branchr was a smash hit with internet sites, made a staggering £500,000 in its first year, and now counts betting site William Hill as a client. That is despite the fact that Christian is too young to place a bet there.

Social networking site MySpace has also benefited from his company’s services.

Christian, from Corby, Northamptonshire, currently employs eight staff – all adults – around the UK and America as sales and technical assistants, and plans to open two Branchr offices in the next year.

The youngster, who lives with his parents, company secretary Alison, 43, and factory worker Julian, 50, said he was inspired to go into business after observing the immense success achieved by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.

Christian invests the majority of his earnings back into his two businesses.

He said: ‘I really wanted to create something groundbreaking and simple that would revolutionise the way advertising works.

‘Mac Box Bundle was already becoming a success but I really wanted to push myself and do something different, so I came up with the idea of Branchr.

‘I think everyone has business sense in them, they just need to gain experience and be determined to make it.

‘There is no magical formula to business – it takes hard work, determination and the drive to do something great.

‘My aim is to become a leading name in the world of internet and mobile advertising and push myself right to the top of the game.

‘I don’t know where I will be in ten years’ time but I won’t leave Branchr until it has reached £100m,’ he added.

The teenager insists his professional success has not affected his personal life, and says his interests include photography and playing the guitar.

‘My friends and I don’t really talk about my success. To them I’m just a normal teenager and it doesn’t change anything between us.’

Christian, who has used a computer since the age of seven, began teaching himself basic web design aged ten when he was given his first Mac computer.

Branchr works as a platform for website owners to sell advertising, and business owners to buy it.

The company now sells more than 250m adverts to 11,000 websites every month and has acquired a second company, Atomplan, which provides business software.

Mac Box Bundle sells a combination of popular Mac applications, worth up to $400 together for under $100 a time – and donates 10% of each bundle to charity.

Source: Daily Mail / This is Money

Does this say playful luxury’ to you?” asks an immaculately-attired Andreas Panayiotou – profiled in the UK section of Greek Rich List – as he sprawls across his penthouse office’s marble floor in front of a silver throne.

Money flows: Andreas Panayiotou in his central London office (Photo Rebecca Reid)

Two minutes later he’s stretched across the boardroom table, submiting to the Standard photographer’s every request.

Despite a reputation as one who rarely gives interviews, Panayiotou, who rose from the family dry cleaners to 158th place in the Sunday Times Rich List via inspired property development in the East End, is clearly enjoying himself.

One final request, asks the photographer. Would he, er, do the boxing pose? (He was England middleweight amateur champion as a teenager.)

“Aww, that’s the easy one,” he smiles. “Wish you had told me before, though. I ain’t got any gloves.”

Seconds later, an aide is dispatched to nearby Oxford Street to buy a pair of gloves. Red, they’ve got to be red, he specifies. Soon Panayiotou is shadow-boxing like the heroes on his wall. He breaks off to have a “sneaky cigar” at the cocktail bar installed in a corner of possibly the largest chief executive’s office in London.

He is a man who makes making money seem so much fun and you’re left with the thought that his sheer force of personality has made him such a success. He’s worth about £500 million. Where did it all go so right, I ask?

“I don’t want this to come out the wrong way but I don’t think I have achieved much yet,” he says.

“I always feel like I’m starting. I’m never dwelling on the past … I enjoy what I do and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

He went straight from school to the family business at 15. He moved into property at 20 after opting not to become a professional boxer. There was no university or business school. Did he ever imagine it would turn out like this?

“That is a funny question,” he reflects. “I have always believed that I can do anything.

“I remember when I was six I bought an ice-cream and came out of this little shop where we lived, in Mile End. I saw this guy turn up in a gold Rolls-Royce.  I’m standing looking at his car and I said to myself: I’m going to buy one of them when I’m older.’ It’s realising your dreams and just getting on with it.” He says boxing gave him focus and discipline. “If you’re not ready for the next fight, you’re going to get hurt. It’s the same in business.”

Now 44, Panayiotou has granted the Standard an interview to talk about his new project: a Waldorf Astoria hotel opening in November in the grounds of Syon Park, Brentford.

Judging by his sales pitch, it will be extraordinary. He walks me through the 137-room hotel in his mind, going from room to room: we enter through the butterfly house, pass an ice-cream parlour en route to a grand ballroom, swimming pool and spa.

He says room rates have yet to be agreed but they will be on a par with the Waldorf Astoria in New York (where rooms start at £191 a night). “If you have got something that unique, it will always work,” he insists. He has two target markets: business people flying into Heathrow who want a meeting place or somewhere luxurious for a stop-over, and wealthy Londoners celebrating or fancying a weekend “in the country” without the hassle of actually getting there.

A top-notch restaurant (chef Lee Streeton has been recruited from the Caprice group) will make it a destination both for special occasions and Sunday lunches. He boasts that the hotel will be only seven miles from Knightsbridge and seven from Heathrow.

But can austerity era London afford it? His target market has not been hit by the recession, he insists.

But when I visit Syon Park to see his dream location for myself, a few alarm bells start ringing. First, anyone hoping that the Grade I-listed Syon House is being transformed into a Waldorf Astoria will be disappointed: the new hotel is being built next door and is, in fact, a rather ugly redbrick structure.

The site is indeed near Heathrow: in fact, so near that it’s directly under the flightpath — and hence planes will be flying overhead every two minutes on alternate weeks (the flight paths alternate to give residents respite).

Third, there’s the need to evict a neighbour: a tropical zoo that is home to endangered species, including a crocodile called  Houdini, a giant python, a land tortoise and parrots that speak French. It doubles as an education centre and a rescue centre for illegally imported animals seized at Heathrow. The zoo is reportedly happy to leave but needs time and £1.2 million to fund the move. The hotel wants to landscape the zoo to allow easy access to a private trout river.

Back at the Portland Place offices of Panayiotou’s Ability Group, he’s convinced the hotel’s finances stack up: he’s invested £60 million (of which only £20 million is borrowed) and implies it will break even with a 60 per cent room occupancy, assuming the weddings, Sunday lunches and Botox treatments keep the tills ringing (celebrity surgeon Alex Karidis will perform “non-invasive” treatments three days a week).

Panayiotou has taken a long lease on the land (the Duke of Northumberland retains the freehold of the entire Syon estate) and the Hilton Group group will run it (the Waldorf is its premier brand). “Our whole philosophy is playful luxury”, he repeats. “We are taking the stuffiness out of the five-star market. You can come as you wish and be dressed as you wish. You can come in jeans.”

Twice married, he has five children (two boys who work for him, with his first wife, and three daughters aged 13, 10 and six with his second). They live in a gated mansion in Epping. He is “one million per cent” determined that his children don’t grow up spoiled by their father’s wealth.

That said, “I don’t want to be one of those dads who says When I die you can have it’,” Panayiotou says. “You can have it now. I don’t want to be travelling round in jets and these guys get the bus to work.”

Are his daughters aware of his extreme wealth? “For a long time I don’t think they had a clue.” But: “A few years ago we flew on Virgin to the Caribbean. My daughter got onto the airplane and she turned round and said to her mum: What are all these people doing on our airplane?’ That shocked me. Seriously.”

Finally, as the man once known as the “king of Shoreditch” after amassing a portfolio of 8,000 properties (subsequently sold before the property crash), I ask him where the smart money is heading. He now focuses on hotels rather than residential property.

He recounts his “golden rule”: watch what you owe, and view investments as long term. “It’s like playing Monopoly,” he says. “You start with a little house in a road. Then you buy a street, then you buy a hotel… then you end up in jail!” He lets out a huge laugh. It’s time for another sneaky cigar.

Source: Ross Lydall – The London Evening Standard

The “Two and a Half Men” star is the highest-paid actor on the small screen, raking in $1.25 million an episode, according to TV Guide’s annual salary survey, released yesterday. Sheen has topped the semi-annual list, or been close to it, for some time, but recent renegotiations with CBS put him over the million-dollar-an-episode mark. That came despite a Christmastime arrest over an assault on his wife and subsequent sentencing to 30 days of rehab.

Charlie Sheen (left) rakes in $1.25 million per episode of 'Two and a Half Men', according to an annual salary survey released yesterday by TV Guide.

Sheen’s salary, however, pales in comparison to the perennial queen of daytime media, Oprah Winfrey. The talk host, who will launch her own network next fall, earns a cool $315 million a year, according to TV Guide.

On the late-night front, David Letterman’s steady performance at “The Late Show” earns $28 million, while the recently reestablished “Tonight Show” host, Jay Leno, earns $25 million. Conan O’Brien will earn $10 million for his new show on TBS (and also owns a piece of the franchise).

“American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest takes home the biggest paycheck in the reality sector, with $15 million a year.
“The Soup’s” Joel McHale trails him with $2 million, but that number doesn’t take into account McHale’s earnings for his NBC comedy, “Community.”

Snooki, the pint-sized star of MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” earns $30,000 per episode. For comparison, that’s the same as Ashley Tisdale’s take-home for her new CW series, “Hellcats.”

Former “Magnum, P.I.” star Tom Selleck returns to TV this fall in CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” about a family of New York cops, and will rack up $125,000 an episode. That puts him in the middle of the pack of top TV drama earners, just below “Parenthood’s” Lauren Graham, who makes $150,000, and above “White Collar’s” Matt Bomer, who makes $100,000.

Hugh Laurie, star of Fox’s “House,” is the highest-paid drama actor, earning $400,000 an episode.

During a typical season, most nonreality shows produce 22 episodes that air over 36 weeks.

The networks tightened their belts this year, said TV Guide, because ad revenues were hit by the recession and because DVR and online viewing have reduced the earning power of repeats.

Not only are networks paying less for the stars of new series, they’re also cutting roles at established shows. For instance, ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” will lose Rob Lowe as a regular character and the episode order will be trimmed to 18, according to TV Guide.

Among news anchors, NBC’s Matt Lauer leads with $16 million-plus per year. Katie Couric gets $15 million for her CBS gig. And former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, whose new CNN series will debut in September, will bank $500,000 a year.

Source: Chistina Kinon, New York Daily News

The Wall Street adage says it’s best to invest when there’s blood in the streets. For Peter Georgiopoulos (profiled in Greek Rich List US Section), that means buying when there’s oil in the water. As oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, Mr. Georgiopoulos, the most successful U.S. shipping entrepreneur to come along in decades, is making what on the surface seems to be a spectacularly contrarian bet: buying every tanker he can get his hands on.

Peter Georgiopoulos has been able to cash in before.

Earlier this month, he spent $620 million to snap up seven tankers for his General Maritime Corp., including five of what the shipping set understatedly calls “very large crude carriers”— the kind that can hold 2 million barrels.

The move comes as oil drillers and shippers face tougher regulations and higher costs. Adding to the risks, Mr. Georgiopoulos’ deal expands the size of General Maritime’s fleet by more than 50% just when a flood of new tankers is expected to hit the market. New supply could cause shipping prices to crash and swamp the heavily indebted company.

He’s an optimist

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Georgiopoulos doesn’t see things in such a gloomy light. The plainspoken Bronx native—who once dismissed an English speechwriter for seasoning his speeches with such posh words as whilst—insists that now is the time to strike. He argues that ships are attractively priced after their values fell by half last year, and he sees evidence of economic recovery taking hold.

“I’m feeling confident,” he proclaimed at an industry conference last week. “I’m feeling things are getting better here in the States. And I think we’ll all be dead before there’s a collapse in China.”

The 49-year-old former Wall Street banker has shown a spectacular sense of timing in the past. When oil prices were hovering at $10 a barrel back in 1997, and the shipping business had tanked, Mr. Georgiopoulos started General Maritime and turned it into the fourth-largest publicly traded shipping company, with $67 million in operating income last year on $350 million in revenue.

He built the company by stocking up on ships at depressed prices and selling many of them near the top of the market in 2005 and 2006. In less than a decade, he had translated the $80 million in capital he used to start his enterprise into $1.4 billion in dividends and share buybacks.

“He’s got a great sense of the deal,” says Peter Shaerf, a General Maritime board member and managing director of investment bank AMA Capital Partners.

Mr. Georgiopoulos declined to be interviewed for this article— begging off, he says, because his bankers at Goldman Sachs didn’t want him to talk to the press. But some investors seem to fear that this deal-master’s touch has eluded him in his latest bidding for oil tankers. Amid a general slump in shipping stocks, General Maritime shares have been especially dismal, falling about 75% in the past two years to $6.50 apiece. Nervous bankers would only lend the company enough money to cover 60% of the cost of its new tankers, forcing Mr. Georgiopoulos to raise most of the balance by selling $196 million worth of stock last week, which diluted existing shareholders’ stakes by nearly 50%.

Getting that painful deal done apparently took all of Mr. Georgiopoulos’ dealmaking skills, as he reminded investors of the many good times they shared in more prosperous days.“Look, we started with $80 million, we gave you $1.4 billion,” he says he told investors. “Give us another $200 million back.”

Even with the money, General Maritime has little margin for error. It carries $1 billion in debt and only $15.9 million of unrestricted cash, and it has pledged just about all of its assets as collateral, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Changing world

That financial burden could be manageable in ordinary times, but the Gulf disaster may be a gamechanger once an angry Congress and embarrassed regulators finish with the oil business.

“Our world is changing,” Morten Arntzen, CEO of Manhattan- based Overseas Shipholding Group, warned at a conference last week. “We will get unlimited liability as an industry, and I’m not sure anyone knows what that means yet except we all know that it’s going to cost us all more.”

The other issue lies in the flood of new ships about to hit the waves. Shipyards are scheduled to complete construction of enough new huge tankers to increase the size of the world’s fleet by nearly 30% next year. Whether the new capacity will be delayed or even canceled is a topic of huge debate within the industry.

Their arrival could trigger a “2009-type depression” in shipping rates, Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Salvatore Vitale warned in a recent client report. Rates on the very largest oil tankers last year collapsed to as little as $20,000 a day from their high of $145,000 in 2008. “If the 2011 official supply picture becomes reality,” Mr.Vitale advises, “run for the hills.”

Source: Aaron Elstien, Crain’s New York Business, June 2010