Business

Sara Blakely

Sold fax machines for seven years; started Spanx with $5,000 and no outside investment.

Born: 1971 · Clearwater, Florida, US
Roots: White American
Family: Middle class; Trial-attorney father, artist mother.
Education: Florida State University (communications)
Started with: $5,000; Her savings; Spanx took no outside investment.
Affiliations & societies: None documented.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1993 · age 22
Fails the LSAT twice
Drops the law plan; works at Disney World, then sells fax machines door-to-door for seven years.
1998 · age 27
Starts Spanx$5,000
Develops the product from modified pantyhose; writes her own patent application to save legal fees.
2000 · age 29
Oprah's “Favorite Things”
The product is featured on the list; sales increase sharply.
2012 · age 41
Billionaire status$1B
Per Forbes, the youngest self-made woman on the list at the time; she owned 100% of the company.
2021 · age 50
Sells majority to Blackstone$1.2B
At a reported $1.2B valuation.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.