Martin Lewis' incredible fortune and meteoric rise after sad loss left him scared to leave house

As savvy savers consult this year's there's one personal finance guru they'll be turning to for advice - the himself,

But the well-respected financial journalist has had to navigate a very difficult path to fame and fortune. This morning, pledged 'more pounds in pockets' despite being set to deliver tax rises and spending cuts in a bid to plug the £22 billion black hole left by the former Tory Government.

But, as the Crisis continues, many will still be turning to Martin, 52, for some words of wisdom on how to ensure their money goes further. A confident and authoritative voice on all things spending, Manchester-born Martin wasn't always this way. A traumatic tragedy left him too afraid to leave the house as a grieving young schoolboy.

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Devastating tragedy

Martin's achievements are astonishing given the terrible tragedy that befell him and his family when he was just 11 years old. Of the earth-shattering 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 Martin into seclusion for most of his teenage years, and good friend Kerry Perkins - who he met at uni - 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, a terrified Martin was riddled with fear and too scared to go out in case tragedy struck again. Martin told Radio 4's show 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."

Rise to fame

But 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."

As a teen, Martin 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 working 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 it is around that time that he is said to have started sending a regular email to friends titled, Martin's Money Tips.

The Money Saving Expert was honoured for his services to consumer rights and to charitable service in 2014 when he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This was . The star, who was voted the UK's most trusted voice on , has even raised millions for charity, including £4million for the Coronavirus Poverty Emergency Fund.

Staggering net worth

According to Radio 4's Profiles segment, his friends started passing it on to their friends, and as demand grew, he decided to set up his own platform. In 2003 he launched his hugely successful website, 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 according to The 2021, he now has a net worth of a staggering £123 million.

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