Sara Blakely invested $5,000 in Spanx while selling fax machines; 21 years later, it is worth $1.2bn

Sara Blakely founded Spanx in 2000 with $5,000 in savings while working as a door-to-door fax machine salesperson. Despite having no formal business training or outside investment, she built the company into a global womenswear brand. In 2021, Blackstone acquired a majority stake in the company at a $1.2 billion valuation, with Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon joining as investors.