Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden is best known to British television fans for her role on the BBC two show as the tough, unflappable businesswoman in search of a sound business plan in which to invest. But, how well has she done for herself?
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Deborah has been a dragon on the investment show since the third series back in 2008.
The programme allows various entrepreneurs an opportunity to show their different business ideas to a panel of five affluent investors, the “Dragons” of the show’s title, and pitch for financial investment while offering a stake of the company in return.
Deborah has made her name off-screen in the fashion and entertainment business sector. Yet just how much is Deborah, who also competed on Strictly Come Dancing’s 2013 series, worth?
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Deborah Meaden net worth
Deborah was born on February 11, 1959, in Taunton, Somerset. She was raised by single mother Sonia.
Deborah has previously credited her work ethic and independent attitude to watching her mother navigate life single-handedly.
The 60-year-old dragon’s net worth is estimated to be over $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
This roughly equates to £46.455,600 million.
How did she make her fortune?
Deborah launched her own ceramics company before embarking on a franchise for clothing company Stefanel and a prize bingo concession at Butlins.
Meaden and a partner bought one of the first Stefanel textile franchises in the UK, which was based in the West Country; but two years later sold it to her partner for £10,000.
After selling her shares to her business partner, in 1988 she joined her family’s business to run its amusement arcade operations.
In 1992, joined Weststar Holidays, a family holiday park operator based in Exeter, Devon, with its major sites in South West England.
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Deborah progressed from the shop floor to be an Operations Director then Managing Director quite quickly.
In 1999, she led a management buyout and acquired the majority shareholding.
By the time she sold the company six years later, Weststar was providing holidays for more than 150,000 people each year with an EBITDA in excess of £11m.
In 2005, she made a partial exit when Weststar was sold in a deal worth £33 million to Phoenix Equity Partners and, in August 2007, her remaining stake of 23 percent in Weststar Holidays was liquidated when the firm was sold to Alchemy Partners for £83m, valuing her stake at about £19m.
In 2009, Meaden acquired Fox Brothers – a West Country textile mill established in 1772 and still based in Wellington, Somerset – along with fellow shareholder, Douglas Cordeaux, former design director at Pepe Jeans London.
While on Dragons’ Den she has agreed investments in 63 businesses to the value of over £3.3million, making her the highest investor on the show by average. However, she is far from being the wealthiest dragon on the show.
Previously, it was revealed that the title of the richest dragon belongs to the longest-serving dragon, Peter Jones, 53.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2019, Jones has a net worth of £490million and ranks at number 283. Making him more than ten times more wealthy than Deborah Meaden.
It was reported that his wealth is up by a whopping £5million since the list was released last year.
According to the Sunday Times, Jones bought camera group Jessops for just under £2m in 2013 and is rebooting the chain for the 21st century.
A firm believer in the future of Britain’s high street, the Dragons’ Den panellist has previously said: “The high street has an opportunity to come alive – it’s going to be about community.”
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