Samuel Leeds
British social media personality and businessman (born 1991)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Luke Leeds (born 11 April 1991)[2][3] is a British social media influencer, property trainer and investor.[4][5] Leeds and his activities have received extensive criticism.[6][7][8][9]
11 April 1991
- social media influencer
- property trainer
- investor
Samuel Leeds | |
|---|---|
| Born | Samuel Luke Leeds 11 April 1991 |
| Education | Emmanuel School, Birmingham Bible Institute |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse | Amanda Leeds[1] |
Early life and career
Samuel Leeds' step-father is a chartered accountant who worked for KPMG.[10][11][12] Leeds' brother, Russell Leeds, is his business partner.[13] He also has a sister who works for him.[14][15]
Leeds attended Emmanuel School, a private Christian school in Walsall.[16] He left school at 16.[16] He later attended the Birmingham Bible Institute.[17]
Leeds claims to have bought his first property before the age of 18, taking out a mortgage in his step-father's name as he was too young to take one out himself.[18][16]
Before his career in social media, Leeds worked as an illusionist.[19]
In the 2010 United Kingdom general election he stood for election as a Christian Party candidate for Birmingham Selly Oak. He received a 0.3% share of the vote.[20]
Leeds started his property education business in 2014.[21] His brother is the chief executive of the company.[13][22] Both his step-father and mother work for him as property academy mentors.[10][11][23] His sister is employed by him as an accountability coach.[14][15]
In 2018 Leeds and his brother purchased Ribbesford House, a historic English mansion near Bewdley in Worcestershire for £810,000.[24][25] Leeds claimed that when the project was completed, Ribbesford House would be worth £6.35 million.[26] Restoration work began but the building proved to be in a worse condition than the brothers had expected. Their £1 million restoration budget had to be doubled to £2 million.[24] In 2020 Samuel Leeds made an appeal for outside investors to help him finish the project.[26] Footage filmed in August 2022 revealed that restoration work had temporarily halted.[27] By March 2023 work had restarted.[28] In October 2024 Leeds revealed that after multiple failed attempts at getting planning permission from the local council, he would not finish the project until planning permission was granted.[29] Ribbesford House was listed for sale at auction on 5 November 2025. The guide price was £1.1 million.[30] The property was listed for auction for a second time, taking place on 28 January 2026. The guide price was lowered to £900,000.[31] Ribbesford House was listed for auction for a third time, scheduled to take place on 17 March 2026. The guide price had been lowered to £395,000. The property was sold prior to the auction taking place.[32]
In 2023 Leeds and his brother launched Samuel Leeds Finance, a lending initiative offering funding for Samuel Leeds Academy members' projects.[33][34]
In November 2023 Leeds and his brother paid £1,286,000 for Staden Grange, a hotel in Buxton in Derbyshire.[35][36]
In 2024 Leeds and his brother reached a deal to rent Willingham House in Willingham in Cambridgeshire to run as an apartment hotel.[37][38][39]
Personal life
Criticism and controversy
Leeds claims to have a UK property portfolio worth £20 million and charges up to £12,000 for 12 months of coaching.[43][18] His courses are not regulated by any professional body.[44] The Daily Telegraph reported that some attendees used savings or loans to pay for courses and did not achieve the results they expected, while others reported successful deals.[45]
In 2017 Leeds paid £4800 for a meet-and-greet and photograph with Alan Sugar. In 2020, after Leeds had claimed that Sugar had mentored him, Sugar instructed his lawyers to have Leeds remove these claims from his social media and website, dismissing them as "pure fantasy and completely untrue".[46][47]
In October 2019 Andrew Burgess started a Facebook group called The Truth about Samuel Leeds. In January 2021 Samuel Leeds launched legal proceedings seeking more than £6 million in damages against Burgess and several other members, alleging harassment and defamation.[48][7][8] The Facebook group defendants crowd funded over £14,000 to help pay their legal costs.[49] The case was struck out in the High Court by Mr Justice Nicklin in May 2024.[48][50]
In January 2020 BBC News reported on the suicide of Danny Butcher, who had taken out loans to join Samuel Leeds' Academy. Butcher, who had struggled with mental health issues and debt, did not make the money that he thought he would from property investment.[19] An article in The Daily Telegraph claimed that there was no evidence the course caused his death.[4] Leeds instructed his solicitors to send a warning letter to Carrie Jones, Butcher's sister, accusing her of defamation and harassment. She denied any wrongdoing.[7]
In May 2021 Samuel Leeds launched legal proceedings against Property Tribes co-founder Vanessa Warwick.[51] She also denied any wrongdoing and filed a counter-claim against Leeds for defamation and harassment.[7] Supporters of Warwick crowd funded over £60,000 to support her legal costs.[52] The case was eventually settled out of court.[53]
In September 2022 The Guardian reported that Ellisons Solicitors, acting on behalf of Samuel Leeds, had issued legal threats or proceedings against at least 15 individuals or websites in response to criticism of his courses.[7] Commentators raised concerns about the use of litigation to challenge online criticism.[7] Leeds and Ellisons Solicitors were mentioned by name by in a parliamentary debate on strategic lawsuits against public participation by Rachel Gilmour MP.[44]
In January 2026, Dan Neidle, a tax lawyer and former UK head of tax at Clifford Chance co-wrote an article on Leeds.[54][9] Neidle and the other authors claimed that despite Leeds' assertion that he has superior tax knowledge to most accountants, he makes repeated, basic errors of understanding. The authors criticised Leeds' knowledge of stamp duty, property flipping, trusts, inheritance planning, holding UK property offshore, employing family members and tax deductible items.[9] They claimed that it is unlikely that Leeds' course on property tax, for which he charges £995, contains any information that could not be found for free on the internet.[9] In a March 2026 parliamentary debate on finance, Leeds' tax advice was condemned and Leeds was branded a "charlatan" and "con artist" by Stella Creasy MP.[55]