Martin Lewis, the 54-year-old financial journalist from Manchester, has built a finance advice empire and is now estimated to be worth £130 million, but his rise to the top came after a heartbreaking loss at a young age that made him a recluse for years.
In a clear show of his influence, Lewis was invited to Chancellor John Healey's Number 11 residence this morning, just hours before the Budget was unveiled in the House of Commons. As news from the Budget drops, he will likely be on hand to decipher what it means for household finances.
From Tragedy to National Treasure
Lewis was honoured for his services to consumer rights and charitable service in 2014 when he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), upgraded to a CBE at the beginning of 2022. He has raised millions for charity, including £4 million for the Coronavirus Poverty Emergency Fund.
As a teen, he studied government and law at the London School of Economics before doing a postgraduate in broadcast journalism at Cardiff University. His first media job was as a producer for the BBC's business unit, but it was on digital start-up channel Simply Money that he debuted his Money Saving Expert persona. When the channel went bust in 2001, he was given a Money Saving Expert slot on Open House with Gloria Hunniford, and around that time he started sending a regular email to friends titled, Martin's Money Tips.
Building a £130 Million Empire
According to BBC Radio 4's Profiles segment, his friends started passing the email on to their friends, and as demand grew, he decided to set up his own platform. In 2003 he launched MoneySavingExpert.com for just £100 with only himself as staff. In 2012 he sold it to the Money Supermarket Group for £87 million, £10 million of which he set aside for charity.
He remained as editor-in-chief and later as executive chair, and is now estimated to be worth £130 million. His achievements are astonishing given the tragedy that befell his family when he was just 11 years old.
Overcoming Childhood Loss
Of the event, he told Radio 4: "Three days before my 12th birthday I went to Sunday school - or Jewish Sunday school as it was - someone strange picked me up and when I got home I was told mum had been horse-riding with my sister and there had been an accident involving a lorry. The next day my dad told me she had died the next morning - and that was the end of my childhood. I cried every day until I was 15."
The heartbreak drove Lewis into seclusion for most of his teenage years, and good friend Kerry Perkins, who he met at university, said he would never be the same again. "But I think he would be the first to admit that it was the making of him in many ways because he has that drive from losing his mum and wanting so much to prove that he could do everything for her," she said. "I know she's always with him even though she isn't actually present in his life any more."
For years, Lewis was riddled with fear and too scared to go out in case tragedy struck again. He told Radio 4's Desert Island Discs: "I never went out until I was 18. I couldn't leave the house because of the thought something else could happen." He also told how he would lie to friends to avoid socialising and pretend he was at religious events. Lewis, who is Jewish, added: "It was very difficult because when all my friends from school were going to parties and meeting girls and things like that, which I'd have liked to do, I couldn't cope with it. It was a complete lie, I was a little boy. I was a little boy struggling to deal with something that nobody should be dealing with at that age."
Family Life and Looking Forward
University changed everything for him, with classmates recalling how he loved to party and oozed confidence. His flatmate Elliot added: "Martin and I are very different. Martin used to have parties and I wanted to be quiet in my room and often I would be dragged into the parties - in my dressing gown sometimes - but Martin was very gregarious. People always wanted to be around him."
Lewis has been married to TV presenter Lara Lewington since 2009. In 2012 they welcomed daughter Sapphire Susan Lewis, and he says one of his greatest joys is making her happy. He always makes sure he's finished work by 6pm so he can spend time with her before putting her to bed.
Lewis worries about his daughter going through the same heartbreak he endured and hopes she never has to deal with such agony. He told the Daily Star: "I close my eyes and pray that my little girl never goes through the pain that I went through. I sit there and think, 'Just let me be around until she's 20'. That's really important to me."
