Spanx is a highly popular intimate clothing brand. They sell high-quality leggings and briefs. The woman behind this wonderful brand is Sara Blakely. She is the founder of Spanx and ranked in the list of the most influential women in the world.
Just so you know, she is one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the female category. Her current net worth is around $1 billion.
If you are eager to know more about Sara Blakely and how she established her business, then read this post till the end.
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Background
Sara Blakely was born on the 27th of February, 1971. She is the daughter of trial layer and artist, John Blakely. She is the eldest child in the family. She has a younger brother named Ford.
Growing up in Tampa, Florida, she studied at Clearwater High School. After completing her graduation in 1989, she joined Florida State University. There she studied mass communication.
She wanted to study law like her father but changed her mind after getting poor marks on the Law School entry exam. After that, she worked at Disney World Florida. In her free time, she worked as a stand-up comedian.
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Career
After working for a brief period at Disney, she was recruited as a salesperson by Danka. Her job was to sell fax machines. Surprisingly, she was very good at it. As a result, she was promoted to sales trainer.
While working as a sales trainer, she had to wear uncomfortable pantyhose. This made her cut off the feet of the hose. Her experimentation with the hose gave rise to a new business idea which would later become Spanx.
It took her two years to design the perfect hosiery. She created the final product in 2000. Soon after, she set up her own company and named it Spanx. Due to a lack of funds, she had to model her products.
Soon after the launch of the company, Oprah Winfrey mentioned that Spanx is her favorite hosiery brand. This gained the company massive publicity and sales skyrocketed. Not only that, but Blakely also signed a contract with QVC.
In 2006, she established the Sara Blakely Foundation. The next year, she introduced a new collection of shapewear called Assets. This project was in collaboration with Target.
By 2012, Blakely became one of the youngest self-made billionaires. She started receiving an invitation from various reality TV shows. Many of you know her as an investor on Shark Tank.
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Net Worth and Earnings
The first year of operations generated sales of $4 million. The next year, the sales reached the $10 million mark. The present valuation of the company is around $1.2 billion.
Blakely is still holding the CEO position in the company. Her estimated net worth in 2023 is around $1 billion.
Personal Life
Sara Blakely is a married woman. Her husband Jesse Itzler is a well-known businessman. The two met for the first time at a NetJet Poker Tournament. They got hitched in 2008, and have been together since then.
The two share four kids and are currently settled in Atlanta, Georgia.
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FAQs
1. Is the Spanx Lady a billionaire?
In 2021, it was Blackstone Group, which was reportedly going to acquire Spanx, the popular shapewear company, which led the way for similar brands. During that time, the company was valued at $1.2 billion. Reports during that time suggested that the deal catapulted Sara’s net worth to $1.3 billion.
2. How much did Sara sell Spanx for?
Sara Blakely sold Spanx to Blackstone Group for $1.2 billion in 2021. Blakely still has a good equity stake in the company, despite selling the majority of the company’s stake. She is also the Executive Chairwoman of the company, despite the deal.
3. How much did Sara Blakely make selling Spanx?
Sara, who started Spanx with an initial investment of just $5000 managed to sell the profitable company for a whopping $1.2 billion. There are no reports about the logistics of how the deal was finalized and what happened after.
4. Is Sara Blakely still the CEO of Spanx?
Following selling Spanx, Sara has stepped down as the company’s CEO. She currently works as the executive chairwoman of the company. Besides that, Sara has also appointed Kim Jones as the successor to the CEO position in the company after leaving that position.
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