Dragons Den dragons 2017 – dragon entrepreneurs with a combined Dragons Den net worth of £986 million or USD $1331 million…
This article is about Dragons Den dragons. There are many Dragons Den shows around the world, but this one is to focus on Dragons Den Dragons UK.
Dragons Den dragons 2017 include the following entrepreneurs:
Veteran dragon and telecoms entrepreneur Peter Jones…
Peter Jones who is estimated to have a net worth of over £475 million (USD $640 million) in 2017 has been on the show since it began. He made most of his wealth through Phones International Group, but he started out with a Tom Cruise style cocktail bar, which failed.
Peter Jones is best known as a celebrity from BBC Dragons Den and has been on the show since it began. He has also branched out into other successful TV shows too, with his American Inventor reality series.
Jones is also famous for his investment with Levi Roots in the den. Levi Roots has gone on to become a successful millionaire selling his Reggae Reggae Sauce. Levi is also a TV personality and TV chef too.
Peter is obviously successful, but sometimes when I listen to him berate entrepreneurs on the show, I feel he forgets where he came from. It’s like he’s forgotten some of the mistakes he made along the way himself.
The grumpy dragon…
He often comes across as the “Grumpy entrepreneur“, perhaps not yet the “Grumpy Old Man“, as he’s not quite of that age, but I can imaging him being the grumpy old man, who’s not particularly tolerant of things.
Often times when I watch Dragons Den I cringe when I hear what he has to say. My wife will not watch it any more, as she doesn’t like the way the entrepreneurs are treated. She feels the way they are spoken to is unnecessary.
It is funny how sometimes Peter Jones will end up making an investment offer to an entrepreneur who he’d previously slated.
On the other hand, you often see him joking with the other dragons in between the investor pitches. He’s also quick to add the odd joke or pun when the opportunity arises during a pitch too.
A quote from Peter Jones: “Believe in yourself, never give up and go about your business with passion drive and enthusiasm.”
Feisty woman entrepreneur Deborah Meaden…
Deborah Meadon is one of the original dragons on Dragons Den. The only dragon who’s been there longer than her is veteran dragon Peter Jones.
Deborah Meaden Net Worth is estimated at £46 million (USD $62 million) as of 2017. A shrewd business woman and animal over combined.
She is best known as a straight-talking dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. Although her celebrity status jumped when she starred on the popular TV program Strictly Come Dancing too.
The feisty dragon…
This feisty business woman made her wealth from the family holiday park business. She sold her shareholding in this business for £33 million (USD $44.5).
She has since added to her growing fortune through her careful Dragons Den Investments. I’ve noticed that she seems to like to connect on an emotional level with the entrepreneur who’s pitching their business.
Having said that, Meaden is a very shrewd business woman and doesn’t take kindly to an over-valued business or with an entrepreneur who doesn’t know or understand their numbers.
A Quote from Deborah Meaden: “True entrepreneurs never stop learning from their own successes and failures – and from one another.“
Fashion tycoon Dragons Den dragon Touker Suleyman…
Touker Suleyman began his career with nothing and now has a net worth of over £150 million (USD $200 million). He was an immigrant from Cyprus and couldn’t hardly speak any English when he arrived in the UK.
He’s had an amazing entrepreneurial career, which eventually led him into fashion. This is when he rescued the Hawes & Curtis fashion brand.
Touker Suleyman believes that success is only a part of your journey and that you should be passionate about your work. When you hear him speak on the show, this definitely comes across.
His huge success lead him to become a dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. Prior to his appearance on the show he was not known at all, but now he’s a house-hold name.
He brings his experience of retail and online expertise to the den and has already invested in a number of Dragons Den-businesses.
The smiley dragon…
Touker is forth-write in the den, but there’s a difference to him over the other dragons. He seems to have a smile or an “almost-smile” on his face for most of the time. He’s funny and someone I’d call charming and a fair-angel-investor.
Like all the dragons, he’s straight with the ‘pitching entrepreneurs’, be it with an over valued business pitch or whether he just doesn’t likes the business concept, but mostly he responds with some underlying advice.
A quote from Touker Suleyman; explaining the traits of what got him to where he is: “Hard work, passion and loving what you do. If you don’t love what you do, you might as well give up.”
And then the Dragons Den new dragons…
One aspect of Dragons Den is that dragon investors come and go and it was time for dragon Nick Jenkins and Dragons Den dragon Sarah Willingham to leave. These two dragons were replaced with business woman Jenny Campbell and Vitamin King Tej Lalvani.
Dragons Den newest dragons are…
Banking dragon Jenny Campbell…
Jenny Campbell is a one of the newest dragons on the UK Dragons Den. She has an estimated net worth of over £40 million ($54 million). A business woman’s success story where she went from a cashier at a bank to owning an ATM machine business.
Jenny Campbell made most of her wealth when she sold YourCash ATM business for £50 million. Campbell turned this business around, taking it from making a £7 million (USD $9.45 million) loss to make a £7 million profit.
She has joined the new line-up on BBC’s Dragons Den to become one of two new angel investors.
The gentle dragon…
Jenny is a very personable entrepreneur and is less harsh than the other dragons. She has in my opinion a similar approach to her predecessor woman entrepreneur Sarah Willingham.
Having sold her YourCash business she has plenty of time on her hands. She uses this as a part of her pitch to the “investees“, with her now common expression “I come with a clean slate.”
A quote from Jenny Campbell: “Drive, dedication and determination got me where I am today and it will get me where I am going in the future.”
Vitabiotics CEO and Vitamin King dragon Tej Lalvani…
New-comer Tej Lalvani joined Dragons den at the same time as Jenny Campbell.
Vitamin King Tej Lalavani has an estimated net worth in excess of £275 million (USD $370 million). But life wasn’t made easy for him by his professor father, who started the Vitabiotics business in 1971. He worked his way up in the vitamin business from driving forklifts in the warehouse through to CEO.
This journey through the different levels of the business was important to Tej Lalvani for him to understand the business and how it works.
Tej Lalvani is now the CEO of Vitabiotics, which is a global brand where the adverts are fronted by X Factor judge and pop star Nicole Scherzinger.
The quiet thinking dragon…
He’s obviously a shrewd business man and an entrepreneur where nothing will get missed in the detail. He’s softly spoken and has already invested in businesses on Dragons Den, one of which where he co-invested with Peter Jones in Liam and Craigs’ business.
A quote from Tej Lalvani: “As a business person if people are not competent, I don’t have time for that. They need to be on the ball and switched-on and there’s very little time for error.”
Dragons Den dragons worth…
The current combined Dragons Den dragons net worth is £986 million. In American terms that’s nearly a billion pounds or in the USA it is over a billion dollars or $1,331,000,000.
An often asked question is “which dragon is the richest?” from the current 2017 numbers this is Peter Jones, who is valued at over £475 million (USD $640 million).
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