Inside Dragons’ Den star Joe Wicks’ £55m empire and how he turned struggles around after NO ONE turned up to his classes

HE’S the fitness guru who kept the nation moving during lockdown – and amassed a £55million fortune in the process.

Now Joe Wicks is about to share the secrets of his success and inspire other budding entrepreneurs as a guest Dragon on Dragons’ Den.

Super-fit Joe boasts an even healthier bank balance, a £4.4million luxury Surrey mansion and a second sprawling home in Santa Monica in California where he, wife Rosie and their four children split their time.

But it wasn’t always that way for newbie personal trainer Joe, who would spend hours handing out flyers and was often the only person who would turn up to his boot camps in Richmond when he started out 15 years ago.

He recalled: “I’d cycle 40 minutes to Richmond really early in the morning and set up all my equipment but no one would turn up. I found that whole period really challenging.

“I wasn’t depressed but when I think back I get emotional because I feel proud I kept going when lots of people wouldn’t. I’d borrowed off my dad to do my personal-training course and thought I was never going to be able to pay him back.

“I remember getting really upset one night and he said, ‘Joe, I don’t care if you never pay me back, as long as you do what you love.’

“It’s always emotional for me when I think back to that moment.”

But Joe soon hit on a simple idea that was to turn him into a global superstar with millions of social media followers and the impressive fortune to match.

He started sharing 15 second videos online of simple, healthy meals that would take just 15 minutes to cook.

The videos with Joe’s cheeky chappy persona and his description of broccoli as ‘midget trees’ captured the imagination of the nation.

He then began posting workout films to his YouTube Channel, The Body Coach TV, and his first ever video has since amassed 6million views. His channel now has over 2.7million subscribers and has had over 282million views. 

When he first started his online coaching business he ran it all himself. 

But as his popularity soared he needed to build a team around him. In a savvy move he brought in his brother Nikki as his right-hand man and CEO to concentrate on the business side of the empire – and it paid off.

Joe launched his first book – Lean in 15 – in December 2015 and it sold 77,000 during its first week, breaking a world record previously held by cook Delia Smith. 

He has since gone on to publish 11 more best-selling books shifting more than four million copies, followed by a successful series of workout DVDs.

His fitness app also helped him rake in the cash. Back in 2020 more than 130,000 people took out £69.99 annual subscriptions to Joe’s app between Christmas and the new year.

It means the fitness guru was pulling in the UK average salary of £31,000 every 39 minutes.

So during lockdown he could well afford to donate the profits from his lockdown “PE with Joe” workouts to the NHS.

As soon as schools shut during the pandemic, Joe launched daily online “PE lessons” to keep the nation’s kids active as they were stuck inside.

The initiative helped raise more than £580,000 for NHS charities, the videos were matched by millions of people worldwide and Joe was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours for his efforts.

And the six-pack king’s charitable activities didn’t stop there. He did a 24 hour workout challenge for Children in Need raising more than £2million.

Den debut

But despite his success, Joe is nervous about his Dragons’ Den debut, telling The Times: “I would never have sat at home thinking I’m going to go on Dragons’ Den, but they reached out.

“I was quite nervous. The other dragons were lovely, but I don’t feel like a businessman.” 

And he says his own meteoric rise was an “accident”, adding: “I have a proper business with 30 employees, but it was an accidental success story.

“I never had ambition to build a company. So when I sit in there with those others that have got multimillion-pound businesses and loads of experience, I don’t feel qualified.”

But he has more to offer than business acumen and hopes his rags-to-riches story of the council estate kid done good will give others hope that they too can emulate his success.

“My childhood and drive and passion can hopefully inspire,” he says. “Because entrepreneurs don’t just need money, they need motivation, discipline, resilience. They’re the things I advised on.”

And not only that he seems to have nailed the work/life balance.

He and wife Rosie and their four children Indie, Marley, Leni and Dusty spend at least three months of the year at their home in California.

And the couple home-school all their kids – with the help of both grandmas.

Joe admits that if he worked harder he could be even richer – but he doesn’t want more money – he wants more time.

“I’m very content with my life and I just want to protect it. I’m not on a constant conveyor to be bigger and bigger and bigger and global,” he says.

“Most people who are as successful as me would have to work really hard and spend a lot of time away from their family, but my greatest gift is that I have time with my kids and the freedom to actually slow down and say, ‘I’m not going to work every single day. I’m not going to do every opportunity that comes my way.’

“Maybe my career is not spreading as big as it could, but I would regret my kids being teenagers and me going, ‘Look how much money I’ve got in the bank,’ if I hadn’t had that time with them.”

And with his multi-million pound fortune, who can blame him?