The Apprentice millionaires: These are the richest people to come from the show

Naturally, everyone who applies to be on The Apprentice wants to end up as a rich business person, but only a few of them successfully go on to become millionaires.

Some of the most successful candidates from The Apprentice, bank balance wise, didn’t even land the investment from Lord Sugar, and now say the tycoon couldn’t afford their businesses anyway. Here are all the people who went on The Apprentice and then went on to become millionaires, ranked by their mega net worths.

Ricky Martin – £1million

The first of The Apprentice millionaires is Ricky Martin, who won series eight. Before appearing on the show, the professional wrestler called himself “perfection” and changed his name from Richard so he had the same name as Ricky Martin the pop star. Him and his business, Hyper Recruitment Solutions, are now estimated to be worth around £1million.

Thomas Pellereau – £1.1million

Thomas is an inventor, who appeared on series seven of The Apprentice in 2011. He won the series but Lord Sugar initially rejected his business plan and encouraged him to expand his business, Stylideas LTD, into a range of grooming products. His website now describes him as “the world’s beauty handyman” making tools for the industry and he has a net worth of just over a million pounds.

Alana Spencer – £1.1million

Alana Spencer won the series in 2016 and is now worth £1.1million. She used the £250k from Lord Sugar to invest in her business Ridiculously Rich by Alana – a luxury handmade cake company. After winning the show she launched Ambassador & Cakepreneur schemes, giving cake fans a chance to start a franchise of her brand.

By 2019, Ridiculously Rich reportedly had almost 50 ambassadors taking cakes to events all across the UK and stocking local independent retailers. Ambassadors buy the cakes from Alana, and then sell them at events. The company is now turning over half a million a year and has its own purpose built bakery. Not bad considering Alana admitted she nearly quit the show in week three!

Luisa Zissman – £1.5million

After finishing as runner-up on The Apprentice in 2013, Luisa went on to appear in Celebrity Big Brother where she reached fourth place. She has also run several successful businesses, including an online electronics store, a baking website and a cupcake shop, as well as dabbling in modelling.

Katie Hopkins – £2.75million

There’s not much to say here, other than yes – Katie Hopkins rose to her unfortunate fame after appearing on The Apprentice. She was on the third series in 2007 and has since ditched business to become a columnist and political commentator.

Michelle Dewberry – £3.5million

Michelle Dewberry was hired by Lord Sugar in 2006 but quit four months later to pursue her own business. She took part in the show when the prize was a £100k a year job with Lord Sugar, not a business investment. She quit the job to focus on her company, Michelle Dewberry Ltd, which has now made her worth £3.5million.

Michelle launched a number of online deal sites, including a money saving site for women, and released an autobiography in 2007. She also worked for Sky News as a current affairs presenter and went on to stand as an independent MP in her home constituency during the 2017 and 2019 UK general elections.

Saira Khan – £3.6million

You might forget that Saira Khan actually started out on The Apprentice. She’s now a regular on Loose Women and columnist for the Daily Mirror and Hello Magazine. Saira Khan was the runner-up in the very first series of the show. Saira also has a property portfolio of five houses and has doubled the value of her own home – now worth £1.6million. She has a home in France and three further London properties, worth £2million. Saira was paid £100k when she went on Celebrity Big Brother and has been on Dancing On Ice. All this has contributed to her huge £3.6million fortune.

Joseph Valente – £4.4million

Joseph Valente won the 2015 series and with investment from Lord Sugar set on growing boiler installation company ImpraGas, which Valente says has turnover of £3million. He has since bought out Lord Sugar, and earned a net worth of a huge £4.4million.

Susan Ma – £12.7million

Susan Ma is the most successful person who Lord Sugar went into business with – after appearing in the show’s seventh series. There are mixed reports over what her exact net worth is, but it has been estimated at around £12.7million. One thing’s for sure though, her business turns over serious money. Susan Ma is the owner of Tropic Skincare – a vegan skincare company. Despite coming in third position on the show, she still managed to secure an investment from Lord Sugar. According to The Times, the company is the biggest out of any Lord Sugar works with, with annual sales of £22.5million.

Alex Mills – £16million

The richest of all The Apprentice millionaires is Alex Mills, who was fired by Lord Sugar, but now his insurance company has made him a fortune. He owns Dynamo cover, and has a net worth of £16million, according to The Telegraph. Speaking to the publication about being rejected for the £250k investment by Lord Sugar, he said: “I tell you what, he isn’t having half my business for just 250 grand now.” Alex was on the 30 under 30 rich list in 2021.

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