Steven Bartlett, the entrepreneur and Diary of a CEO host, has revealed his business empire has been valued at $425 million (£320 million) following a major eight-figure investment — a deal that cements his position as one of the richest entrepreneurs ever to appear on Dragons’ Den.
The 33-year-old investor, who joined the BBC show in 2022, announced the new valuation through a press statement this week. The deal sees venture capital firms Slow Ventures and Apeiron Investment acquire a minority stake in his umbrella company Steven.com, which now houses Bartlett’s rapidly expanding portfolio, including Flight Story, Flight Cast, Flight Fund, and online shopping platform Stan Store.
Bartlett said the capital injection will help him “build the Disney of the creator economy”, positioning his ventures at the centre of the multi-billion-dollar influencer and creator marketplace.
“For the last century, companies like Disney demonstrated the power of intellectual property,” Bartlett said. “In today’s world, creators are the new franchises — and with my team, we’re building the modern version of that model.”
Despite the investment, Bartlett said he still retains more than 90% ownership of Steven.com.
The valuation marks another major milestone for Bartlett, who has evolved from startup founder to multimedia mogul. His media and technology portfolio now spans content production, venture investment, and e-commerce infrastructure for digital creators.
Steven.com integrates all of his ventures, including:
• Flight Story – a marketing and communications agency powering The Diary of a CEO and Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast.
• Flight Cast – a creative production division.
• Flight Fund – Bartlett’s venture capital arm investing in tech and consumer brands.
• Stan Store – an e-commerce platform competing with Shopify and Linktree.
Bartlett claims the investment is the largest ever made in a European company specialising in social media creators.
Born in Botswana to a Nigerian mother and English father, Bartlett grew up in Plymouth and dropped out of university at 18 before launching his first business.
He co-founded Social Chain in 2014 with Dominic McGregor, building it into one of Europe’s fastest-growing social media agencies. However, the company attracted criticism for plagiarising social media content and overstating valuations.
In his biography, Bartlett claimed to have taken Social Chain public at a valuation of $600 million, though the firm’s 2019 merger with German retailer Lumaland placed its true value closer to $186 million. The company later reached $620 million after Bartlett’s exit and was eventually sold for just £7.7 million.
Bartlett left Social Chain in 2020, later establishing Flight Story and the Diary of a CEO podcast — both now key drivers of his wealth and influence.
While Bartlett’s business success has been widely celebrated, his ventures have not been without controversy.
A BBC investigation in late 2024 found that his Diary of a CEO podcast had featured guests promoting unverified health claims, including that a keto diet could treat cancer and COVID-19 was “biologically engineered”, without challenge from Bartlett. Critics accused him of giving a platform to harmful misinformation.
In 2022, Bartlett also faced backlash for investing in Ear Seeds — a product pitched on Dragons’ Den that claimed to help cure ME/chronic fatigue syndrome. Following complaints, the BBC added a disclaimer clarifying that the treatment was not medically verified.
He was later admonished by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in 2024 for failing to disclose his financial interests while promoting Huel and Zoe on social media.
Despite the controversies, Bartlett’s influence continues to grow. His Diary of a CEO podcast — featuring guests including Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, and Boris Johnson — won Best International Podcast at the iHeart Radio Podcast Awards earlier this year.
With his latest valuation, Bartlett joins the upper echelon of UK entrepreneurs under 35. Industry observers say his empire demonstrates both the economic power and volatility of the creator economy, where brand, authenticity, and influence are the new assets of value.
“Steven Bartlett is the embodiment of the modern business model,” said Dr. Harriet Mason, professor of media entrepreneurship at the University of Leeds. “He’s part content creator, part venture capitalist — a hybrid we’ll see far more of in the next decade.”
For Bartlett, however, the focus remains clear: scaling Steven.com into a global creative media ecosystem.
“Creators are the studios of the future,” he said. “Our goal is to empower them — and build something enduring around their stories.”
