Sara Blakely Net Worth: $1 Billion (approx.)
| Net Worth: | $1 Billion (approx.) |
| Date of Birth: | Feb 27, 1971 |
| Age: | 51 years |
| Profession: | Entrepreneur, Businessperson |
| Nationality: | United States of America |
Sara Blakely net worth is around $1 billion. Sara Blakely is a famous entrepreneur and philanthropist. Sara Blakely is the founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company, founded in Atlanta, Georgia.
How sara blakely net worth grow?:
In October 2021 Sara Blakely agreed to sell a majority stake in Spanx to private equity firm Blackstone in a deal valuing the company at $1.2 billion.
Sara Blakely continues to own a minority stake and oversees company operations. Sara and her husband Jesse Itzler, (founder of Marquis Jets), are members of The Giving Pledge. Sara and Jesse are also minority owners of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
We have written a short article to highlight different aspects such as Sara Blakely biography, interesting facts, professional life, career, net worth, age, height, personal life, dating, relationships, fun facts etc. Hope you will like it.
Sara Blakely net worth is around $1 billion. Sara is the founder of the successful shapewear brand Spanx.
Sara Blakely House & Real Estate:
In 2008, Sara Blakely bought a three-bedroom, 3,093 square foot space in Manhattan at 15 Central Park West for $12.11 million. They sold it in 2014 for $30 million.
Sara Blakely Biography:
| Born | Sara Treleaven Blakely February 27, 1971 (age 51) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Florida State University |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Known for | Founder and owner of Spanx Minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks |
| Spouse(s) | Jesse Itzler (m. 2008) |
| Children | 4 |
Sara Treleaven Blakely was born in the Tampa suburb of Clearwater, Florida on February 27, 1971. Sara’s parents Ellen and John are, respectively, an artist and attorney.
Her brother Ford is an artist. She graduated from Clearwater High School in 1989. Sara graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1993. While at FSU, Blakely was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.
Sara Blakely planned to become a lawyer like her father, but her scores on the LSAT were too low to get into law school. Instead, she went to work at Walt Disney World for 3 months and worked as a stand-up comedian in the evenings.
Sara Blakely Career
After 3 months at Disney World, Sara Blakely got a job selling fax machines door-to-door for an office supply company. Sara was quite good at her job and got promoted to national sales trainer when she was just 25.
Back in the 1990s, a job like this meant Sara Blakely was required to dress professionally, which included pantyhose. The heat and humidity of summers in Florida made this hugely uncomfortable. Sara liked the control top aspect of the pantyhose and how they eliminated panty lines and made her appear thinner. But, the look of the seamed toes in open-toed shoes annoyed her. Sara tried cutting the feet off her hose, but then they just rolled up her leg. Necessity is the mother of invention and this was very much true for Sara Blakely. This is how she was inspired to create Spanx.
Sara Blakely moved to Atlanta when she was 27 for her job. Over the next 2 years, she researched and developed her idea using her $5,000 in savings. As most of the hosiery mills in the U.S. were located in North Carolina, Sara went there to shop her idea and try to find a company to make a prototype. Sara was turned down many times. No one understood her idea. 15 days after returning to Atlanta, she got a call from a hosiery manufacturer in North Carolina. He had daughters and when he told them about Blakely’s idea, they immediately not only understood it but thought it was brilliant. He offered to make Blakely’s shapewear.
It took a year to make the first Spanx prototype. Sara worked with a patent attorney to apply for a patent. She worked on the packaging. Then, Blakely called a local Neiman Marcus buyer and set up a meeting.
Laura was Blakely roommate in Atlanta and when she died Blakely started @spanx in her empty bedroom. The @spanx HQ was actually Laura’s bedroom in tjheir apartment for the first 3 years until Blakely could afford to move the HQ out of our apartment.
During the meeting, Sara Blakely went into the bathroom to put on a pair of Spanx to demonstrate the benefits of the product. This was the right move as the buyer jumped at the chance to be the first to sell Blakely’s shapewear. Neiman Marcus ordered 7,000 pieces for their first order and put them up for sale in seven stores. Blakely then called her friends and family and asked them to to to Neiman Marcus and make a big deal about the Spanx. Soon Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, and Bloomingdale’s also wanted to sell Spanx.
Sara Blakely was hands-on through all stages of Spanx’s growth— including in product positioning and marketing. Crucially, she insisted that Spanx be sold in the shoe department, as opposed to the hosiery department. This set her product apart.
Sara Blakely sent Spanx products to Oprah Winfrey’s television show with a note describing her life story and how the product came to be. Around a month later, in November 2000, Oprah named Spanx a “Favorite Thing,” which sent sales and market awareness of Blakely’s product soaring.
Blakely finally left her job at the office supply company. During the first year of sales, Spanx sold $4 million in product. In its second year, sales went up to $10 million. Blakely signed a deal with QVC in 2001 and sold 8,000 pairs of Spanx in the first six minutes they were available for purchase.
Sara Blakely and Spanx have never spent money on advertising. This is a product that grew entirely based on organic word of mouth and smart public relations. Blakely’s sense of her product and the company she wanted to build has been nearly infallible from the start. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Blakely was a good salesperson, too.
Almost as soon as Spanx took off, other companies began knocking off the shapewear and selling it at bargain-basement prices. Blakely visioned this, which was one of the reasons she chose to start with high-end luxury retailer Neiman Marcus. Women who shop at that price point tend to be more brand loyal and less focused on price.
In 2007, Sara Blakely made another intelligent move by partnering with Target to launch an exclusive lower-cost line of shapewear called Assets by Sara Blakely.
In 2017, Spanx had sales of over $400 million. Blakely owns 100% of the private company and has never taken outside investment.
Sara Blakely Dating ,Relationships, Personal Life
Sara Blakely married Jesse Itzler, the co-founder of Marquis Jet, in Boca Grande, Florida in 2008. The couple met at a Net Jet Poker Tournament and dated for a year before getting married. Sara and Jesse have 4 children.
In 2005, Sara Blakely was a contestant on “The Rebel Billionaire.” Sara Blakely finished in second place and Richard Branson presented her with a $750,000 check to start her foundation. Sara launched the Sara Blakely Foundation in 2006. The foundation helps women through education and entrepreneurial training.
Sara Blakely joined The Giving Pledge in 2013. She has been a guest judge on ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
In 2015, Sara Blakely and Itzler were part of the group led by Tony Ressler that bought the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks for $850 million.
In 2019, Blakely paid $162,500 for the black pants worn by Olivia Newton-John in “Grease.” Proceeds from the auction benefited Newton-John’s cancer treatment center in Melbourne, Australia.
