Steven Bartlett, the man most people know for his role on Dragons’ Den and his podcast The Diary of a CEO, boasted an incredible net worth of over $85 million at the young age of 26.
In 2024, Steven Bartlett’s net worth is most likely over $90 million.
The youngest Dragon is soon to join the list of centimillionaires – and he is just starting out on the show. Truth is, he built his fortune and fame long before he joined the show and more impressively, he did so after dropping out of college.
To learn about Steven Bartlett’s story and how he built his fortune, keep reading.
How Much is Steven Bartlett Worth in 2024?
- Net worth: Estimated at $90 million in 2024.
- Primary income sources: Sales of Social Chain, stakes in various ventures, and earnings from Dragons’ Den and his podcast.
- Social Chain sale: £7.7 million ($9.7 million) in 2023.
- Media Chain valuation: £300 million ($378.3 million) in 2021.
- Thirdweb valuation: £160 million ($201.7 million) in 2022.
- Dragons’ Den salary: £10,000 ($12,600) per hour.
- Diary of a CEO earnings: £875,000 ($1.2 million) in 2021.
Steven Bartlett’s Net Worth: Full Breakdown
Bartlett is very active on social media, and he isn’t exactly someone who keeps his personal life private.
Over the years, he has shared endless stories about his childhood, business career, and his personal life. Even so, he often doesn’t reveal much about his personal investments, salaries, or assets so it’s impossible to perfectly estimate his net worth.
Not to mention, he has quite the diversified list of income sources, including his famous podcast, social media channel, and more.
Nevertheless, we were able to scrounge up enough public information to build a strong estimate of his net worth and the income sources that contribute to it.
Here is what we could find about his assets and earnings.
| Asset or Income Source | Contribution to Net Worth |
| Social Chain sales, 2023 | £7.7 million ($9.7 million) |
| Media Chain valuation 2021, unknown stake | £300 million (378.3 million) |
| Thirdweb valuation 2022, unknown stake | £160 million ($201.7 million) |
| Other business ventures | Unknown |
| Dragon’s Den salary | £10,000 ($12,600) per hour |
| Diary of a CEO earnings 2021 | £875,000 ($1.2 million) |
| Event fees | £10-20,000 ($12-24,000) per hour |
| Book earnings | Unknown |
| Total Net Worth | $90 million |
Latest News and Updates on Steven Bartlett (2024)
- Investment Growth: Steven Bartlett has quickly been growing his investment portfolio with his venture capital firm, Flight Story. His company plays a big role in the tech startup scene, putting money into areas like AI, biotech, and blockchain. He just started the Flight Story Fund, a $100 million investment to help high-growth companies.
- Podcast and Media Ventures: “The Diary of a CEO,” Bartlett’s podcast, remains a key player in the business podcasting world. In 2024, the show continues to be among the top business podcasts in Europe, further increasing his visibility and income
6 Fun Facts about Steven Bartlett
- Early life: Born in Botswana and moved to the UK at the age of two.
- Education: Dropped out of Manchester Metropolitan University after attending just one lecture.
- First business: Co-founded Social Chain with Dominic McGregor at the age of 22.
- Youngest Dragon: Became the youngest investor on Dragons’ Den in 2021.
- Successful podcast: Hosts “The Diary of a CEO,” which became Europe’s most downloaded business podcast in 2021.
- Book author: Authored the best-selling book “Happy Sexy Millionaire” in 2021 and “The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life” in 2023.
Steven Bartlett’s Early Life
Steven Cliff Bartlett was born on August 26, 1992, to a Nigerian mother who left school when she was seven and an English father who worked as a structural engineer. He was born in Botswana but moved to the UK at the age of two.
Steven was one of four siblings who moved to Plymouth, Devon. Later on, the young entrepreneur would share in his bestselling book that the family struggled financially “in a nice, white, middle-class area”, feeling left out while watching others have luxuries they didn’t have.
I learned that if I was to have anything, it wasn’t going to be left for me under the Christmas tree, it was going to be a direct consequence of my own actions.
In Plymouth, Bartlett attended Plymstock School but was expelled in sixth form, after which he enrolled in Manchester Metropolitan University.
Young Bartlett wasn’t interested in traditional education. Instead, his attention was focused on brokering deals with vending machine businesses and organizing school trips, as he mentions in his book. When he dropped out of his business management course at the university after attending a single lecture, it was clear that he would immediately jump into the business world.
Steven Bartlett Net Worth: Bedroom Startup to Millionaire Investor
Steven Bartlett didn’t immediately become a businessman out of university. For two years, he worked in call centers in Manchester. On his podcast, he once shared:
Over a two year period, I probably worked in six or seven call centres in Manchester. I’d quit or get fired, because I was distracted with building my businesses, so I was in and out of work. I lived anywhere I could get cheap rent. I’d be above a Chinese takeaway, then I’d stay somewhere else for two weeks.
He initially created a social media-assisted program to connect students who shared the same interests in the same city, which he named Wallpark.
He used it to help students sell items, communicate, and advertise events.
Following his departure from the university, he put all of his focus on the platform. While doing this, he met Dominic McGregor, a then-student at Edinburgh University, who had a large following on Twitter that he built by posting funny content and student memes.
The two decided to join forces and use their platforms to connect brands with their audiences, and Dom McGregor also left the university.
From this point forward, Bartlett’s life changed – and in the right direction, too, making him a millionaire in only a few years.
Social Chain
At age 22, Steven Bartlett left school to start his first company alongside Dominic McGregor. The partners called their venture The Social Chain.
The Social Chain was founded in 2014.
Today, it is a hugely successful social media marketing agency with high-profile clients like McDonald’s and Apple. However, it is no longer under the partners’ ownership. In February 2023, the brand was acquired by Brave Bison for £7.7 million (around $9.7 million today).
Bartlett and McGregor based their business in Manchester, England. The first major success of Social Chain came with the campaign for the gaming app Tippy Tap. Following this success, the business was already recognized nationally, and in 2019, Social Chain and Lumaland, a German online retailer, merged to become The Social Chain AG, which was listed on the Dusseldorf Stock Exchange and Xetra. The listing valued Bartlett’s business at €186 million, or over $200 million at the time.
Before Bartlett left the company, he took it public in 2021, when it reportedly reached a valuation of $600 million. However, The Times later reported that Bartlett left the business a year before the flotation and wasn’t named in the prospectus.
Steven Bartlett on Dragons’ Den
When he was a child, Bartlett was a fan of the popular investing TV show that he now stars in called Dragons’ Den. At one point, he said:
Dragons’ Den was the only window I had into business from 12 years old. It’s like the first time you go to New York City after seeing it in films for your entire life. But I understand what I bring. A new perspective from a new era of business.
When he grew up, his dream became a reality when Bartlett joined the BBC hit television show Dragons’ Den in 2021. He was added to the dragon line-up in May of 2021, becoming the youngest dragon on the show.
It wasn’t long after Steven Bartlett joined Dragons’ Den that he had a massive fanbase. His personable, approachable demeanor made him one of the public’s favorites, and he has been known to provide valuable advice to those who pitched him ideas.
When he initially appeared on Dragons’ Den, Bartlett invested £150,000 in Cheesegeek, an artisan cheese retailer, and bought a 5% stake in the company, stipulating that he would get a return on his investment within two years. He later secured a 20% stake in Piddle Patch, a company that sells toilets for dogs, during the second episode of the season.
As the youngest investor in Dragons’ Den, Bartlett has brought a fresh perspective to the show. His co-hosts today are:
- Sara Davies: Davies joined Dragons’ Den in 2019 when she replaced Jenny Campbell
- Deborah Meaden: Meaden joined the Den in 2003 and was previously the only female dragon alongside Peter Jones, Richard Farleigh, Theo Paphitis, and Duncan Bannatyne
- Peter Jones: Jones is currently the richest Dragon on the show and the longest-serving dragon, having joined it in its first season
- Touker Suleyman: Suleyman joined Dragons’ Den back in 2015 after demonstrating great prowess in the fashion industry
Steven Bartlett is often very open about his career.
At one point, he shared that he gets paid £10,000 ($12,600 today) an hour on Dragons’ Den. He also revealed that he charges a minimum fee for event booking in the region of £10,000 to £20,000 ($12,600 – $25,200) per hour.
Bartlett on The Secret Teacher
In addition to his appearance on Dragons’ Den, Bartlett has also made appearances on the Channel 4 series titled The Secret Teacher. The show followed six celebrities including Bartlett who went undercover to teach in a secondary school for three weeks.
On the show, Bartlett taught at a Liverpool school and helped students build their business ideas, showing them how to create a marketing strategy or a business plan, pitch their ideas to investors, and more.
Steven Bartlett’s Podcast “The Diary of a CEO”
In 2017, Bartlett started the podcast The Diary of a CEO, which has featured guests like Tom Blomfield and Liam Payne. Fast forward to 2021, and the podcast was Europe’s most downloaded business podcast. In 2023, according to one podcast chart, Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO has the second-largest weekly audience in the UK.
The Diary of a CEO podcast speaks with influential individuals, sharing stories of success.
By 2024, ‘The Diary of a CEO’ continues to top charts as one of Europe’s most downloaded business podcasts. Bartlett has expanded the show into new formats, including live events and a subscription-based content platform, increasing his audience reach and revenue.
His guest lineup now features global business leaders and celebrities, further raising the profile of the podcast.
Authorship
In 2021, Steven Bartlett released Happy Sexy Millionaire, his first book, which almost instantly became a Sunday Times bestseller. Two years later, he released a second book titled The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life, where he shared topics from the podcast and turned them into a published print version.
Awards and Accolades
The fame derived from his Den appearances has not only added a fortune to Steven Bartlett’s net worth, it has also helped him accumulate numerous awards throughout his career.
In 2018, he was included in the Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 list in Europe.
In 2017, his company Social Chain won the Drum Social Buzz Award for Best Influencer Marketing Campaign and was also recognized by outlets like The Guardian and Business Insider.
In 2021, Steven Bartlett won the Silver award for Best Interview Podcast Award at the British Podcast Awards for The Diary of a CEO.
Finally, Bartlett won the Black British Business Awards, which celebrates the achievements of black business leaders in the UK.
Steven Bartlett’s Business Ventures and Other Investments
Steven Bartlett is one of the smartest young investors in the business world these days, having made a fortune in no time by dabbling in various blossoming fields and industries.
Business Ventures
Social Chain, the company Bartlett co-founded after dropping out of school, was only one of the ventures he has started over the years. Let’s see what else he has invested in.
Media Chain
In 2018, Bartlett started a second business called Media Chain. This is a digital publishing house that now owns some of the biggest media assets in the world and has an audience of over 1.8 million people online every month. Its brands focus on everything that the younger generations love most: music, sports, gaming, and lifestyle.
The company has offices in Manchester, Berlin, London, New York, Bangkok, and Munich, and was valued at £300 million in 2021.
Thirdweb
Thirdweb is a Web3 startup also founded by Steven Bartlett, which initially raised $5 million in seed investments, followed by $24 million in investments in 2022. Nine months before the second seed investment, the company went live and the Series A funding round valued it at $160 million.
Some of the early investors in the company were Gary Vaynerchuk and Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban.
Flight Story and Flight Story Fund
Five years after he took his first business public, Bartlett announced two new companies, Flight Story and Thirdweb. In 2023, he launched Flight Story Fund, a $100 million fund for technological investments, which supports high-growth startups in biotech, blockchain, technology, commerce, health, and space.
The fund aims to invest in approximately 20 companies, providing modest stakes at reduced valuations in return for backing from previous founders who are limited partners in the fund.
In 2022, Flight Story acquired R. Agency, a marketing consultancy for an undisclosed sum. R. Agency worked with high-profile businesses like Hinge and Tinder.
Catena Capital
In December 2020, Steven Bartlett founded yet another company, the blockchain-focused private equity business Catena Capital.
Catena Capital focuses on venture capital deals and invests in companies that are focused on consumer technology, social media, space, AI, and biotech.
Other Investments
In 2022, Bartlett joined the board of directors at the food replacement company Huel (similar to Soylent) as the non-executive director.
He has also invested in Atai Life Sciences, a biopharmaceutical firm that attempts to revolutionize the treatment of mental health disorders. Atai Life Sciences raised $225 million during its IPO in 2021, though we don’t know how big Bartlett’s stake in the company is. Bartlett is now the company’s creative director too.
In 2024, Steven Bartlett has expanded his venture capital activities, particularly through Flight Story Fund. The fund, which has a focus on high-growth industries like AI and health tech, is driving innovation by investing in startups. With $100 million allocated, Bartlett has supported over 15 companies, helping them scale with strategic partnerships
What Can We Learn from Steven Bartlett’s Story?
Steven Bartlett has an impressive net worth and an even more impressive career. His numerous successful companies and investments exemplify his business acumen.
There is much to learn from his career and success.
As a prominent figure, a fan favorite, and the youngest-ever Dragon on the cast of the popular show, Bartlett has gained a platform to showcase his expertise and help people learn more about business.
His story serves as an inspiration for those who aspire to make their mark in the business world.
Bartlett is not only one of the multi-millionaire Dragons we watch on TV. His story is an inspiring rags-to-riches tale. He came from poverty and became a multimillionaire who people turn to for guidance and advice.
From co-founding his first business to founding several successful ventures afterward, Bartlett’s journey demonstrates the potential for entrepreneurial success.
He teaches us an important lesson about diversification, showing that one person can succeed in different fields. Diversification is also important to gain financial security, not to mention boost one’s net worth by making versatile investments.