Steven Bartlett (businessman)
British entrepreneur, investor, and podcaster (born 1992)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steven Cliff Bartlett (born 26 August 1992) is a British entrepreneur, investor, and podcaster. In 2014, he founded Social Chain, and in 2017, started The Diary of a CEO podcast, which Spotify Wrapped ranked second in its list of most popular podcasts globally in 2025.[1] In 2021, he began appearing as an investor on the BBC One show Dragons' Den.[2][3] He is the founder of several other ventures, including Flight Story, which consists of FlightStory Studio and FlightStory Fund;[4] Thirdweb;[5][6] and Steven.com.[7][8]
26 August 1992
- Investor
- Entrepreneur
Dragons' Den
The Diary of a CEO
Thirdweb
Time 100 Creators (2025)
Steven Bartlett | |
|---|---|
Bartlett in 2021 | |
| Born | Steven Cliff Bartlett 26 August 1992 Gaborone, Botswana |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Social Chain Dragons' Den The Diary of a CEO Thirdweb |
| Awards | Forbes 30 Under 30 (2020) Time 100 Creators (2025) |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2019–present |
| Genre | Podcasting |
| Subscribers | 18.3 million |
| Views | 1.58 billion |
| Last updated: 14 July 2026 | |
| Website | stevenbartlett |
Early life
Steven Cliff Bartlett[9] was born on 26 August 1992[10] in Gaborone, Botswana to an English father and a Nigerian mother.[11] His mother left school at age seven, due to financial situations; his father is a structural engineer.[12] Steven moved with his family to Plymouth, England, at age two. There, he grew up, attending a secondary school, Plymstock School, from which he was expelled in sixth form.[13][14][15] He went to study at Manchester Metropolitan University, but dropped out after one lecture.[14][16]
Business career and investment
Wallpark and Social Chain AG
In 2013, Bartlett founded Wallpark, an online messaging board.[16]
In 2014, he co-founded Social Chain, a social media marketing company based in Manchester, along with Dominic McGregor.[17] In 2019, Social Chain and German online retailer Lumaland merged to become The Social Chain AG, listing on Xetra and the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange.[17] The listing valued the business at over $200 million.[18] In 2019, the Financial Times reported that Bartlett and Wanja Oberhof would jointly manage Social Chain AG, which was valued at €186M at the time that it merged with Lumaland.[19]
In November 2021, Social Chain AG moved to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's prime standard reaching a valuation of $600 million. As of June 30, 2022, Social Chain AG (the holding company) consisted of 64 companies according to its half-year financial report.[20] Bartlett stepped down as CEO in 2020 because he did not agree on the direction of the company.[21][22] Bartlett's website initially said that he founded a $600 million company. However, The Times reported that Bartlett had left the business at the time of the second listing.[23]
Bartlett stated to The Times that he retained a "significant" shareholding in Social Chain AG at the time of the second listing and that he was under contract to work for the company "on a range of strategic matters" at the time of the $600m valuation, including the up-listing to the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, for which he received a "further package of virtual shares/options".[23][24] In February 2023, nearly three years after Bartlett stepped down as CEO, his original company Social Chain Ltd. one agency out of the 64 companies within the wider Social Chain AG holding group, accounting for less than 10% of its revenues was sold to Brave Bison for an initial £7.7m, with the potential to rise to £17.2m based on performance targets.[25][26][27] The parent holding company gradually divested its other major assets. In March 2022, Social Chain AG sold a minority stake in the food commerce platform KoRo for approximately €39.2 million,[28] as the brand grew toward a valuation of over €150 million. This was followed by the sale of Media Chain Group Ltd to Digitalbox plc for $800,000 in August 2023.[29]
In July 2023, The Social Chain AG filed for insolvency proceedings under self-administration.[30] The insolvency proceedings in self-administration were opened by the Charlottenburg Local Court on 1 October 2023, leading to the liquidation of its remaining assets, including the sale of its largest e-commerce subsidiary, DS Group, back to its existing shareholders in November 2023.[31]
Thirdweb
Thirdweb, a Web3 startup founded by Bartlett, raised $5m in seed investment, and an additional $24 million in 2022, nine months after going live. The Series A funding round valued the startup at $160 million.[32] The funding was led by Katie Haun's $1.5 billion crypto fund, with participation from investors including Coinbase Ventures, Shopify, and Polygon. The company aims to simplify the process of building decentralized applications on the blockchain.[5]
Flight Story
Flight Story is a media and investment company founded by Bartlett. It comprises Flight Story Studio, a media production company, and Flight Story Fund, a $100 million investment fund.[33][34][35] The fund supports founders and high-growth start-ups in blockchain, biotech, health, commerce, technology, and space sectors. The fund had a stated goal to invest in around 20 companies, offering small stakes at discounted valuations in exchange for support from previous founders who are limited partners in the fund.[6] According to a report in The Times, Flight Fund had received criticism over a lack of transparency regarding its portfolio.[36]
In December 2025, Flight Story announced a seven-figure investment in Hot Smart Rich (HSR), a business founded by podcaster Maggie Sellers Reum.[37]
Stan Store
In May 2025, Bartlett became a co-owner of US technology company Stan Store, a platform designed to help creator entrepreneurs launch and manage online businesses. As of that date, Stan Store reported $30 million in annual recurring revenue and $300 million in gross merchandise value.[38]
Ketone-IQ
In September 2025, Bartlett became a co-owner of US ketone drink company Ketone-IQ. As of that date, Ketone-IQ is distributed nationwide in Target, Sprouts, and other retailers.[39]
Flightcast
In October 2025, Bartlett, together with Roxcodes, a former engineer, announced the launch of Flightcast, a platform for video podcasters to grow their audiences.[40]
Groq
In 2024, Bartlett made a "seven-figure" investment in Groq, an American AI chip startup specializing in Large Language Model (LLM) inference technology.[41] Bartlett stated he was introduced to the company by talent manager Scooter Braun and invested after vetting the technology with AI advisors.[42]
Steven.com
In October 2025, Bartlett's company, Steven.com, which holds his creator media assets and creator-focused ventures, closed an eight-figure investment round at a reported valuation of US$425 million.[43][44] The round was led by Slow Ventures and Apeiron Investment Group and was described in media reports as the largest fundraising round by a European creator holding company.[45][46][47] Following the investment, Bartlett retained a majority stake of more than 90% in the company.[7]
The Diary of a CEO podcast
Bartlett has produced The Diary of a CEO podcast since 2017, in which he interviews guests.[48] By the early 2020s, The Diary of a CEO was one of the world's most listened-to podcasts.[49] In 2023, according to a podcast chart, The Diary of a CEO had the second-largest weekly audience in the United Kingdom.[50]
Bartlett has been described as taking a largely apolitical stance on the podcast.[49] He has been criticised for having alternative medicine-related guests on his podcast whose assertions are not backed by, or contradict, scientific evidence,[51] and having other guests who promote medical misinformation without the claims being consistently challenged by Bartlett.[51]
Dragons' Den
Bartlett joined the long-running investment reality television program, Dragons' Den, in 2021. He was one of the five titular "dragon" investors to which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their ideas/products and at the time the youngest to appear on the show.[2][3][52] On the show, Bartlett has invested in companies such as plant-based dog-food brand Omni, matcha energy-drink maker PerfectTed and allergy-response start-up Kitt Medical.[53][54][55] In 2024, Bartlett was criticised for investing in "Ear Seeds", an acupuncture product pitched on the programme which falsely claimed to be able to cure myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, a debilitating, chronic condition. The BBC later added a disclaimer in the episode, stating the "Ear Seeds" were not intended as a cure, and medical guidance should be followed.[56]
PerfectTed
In March 2023, matcha brand PerfectTed appeared on the BBC programme Dragons' Den and accepted an offer from Steven Bartlett for £25,000 in exchange for 5% equity.[57] Following the broadcast, Bartlett invested an additional £1 million.[58] By 2025, the company was reported as one of the fastest-growing founder-led businesses in the United Kingdom,[59][60] with a valuation of around £140 million.[61][62]
Advertising guidelines breaches
The BBC, which currently airs Dragons' Den, reprimanded Bartlett in 2022 for breaching BBC guidelines on advertising after wearing jewellery on the program of a brand he promoted in posts on social media. In a statement, they told the Radio Times: "We have clear guidelines around talents' commercial activity while working with us. Steven has been reminded of the guidelines." In a statement, Bartlett addressed the issue, adding: "This was a genuine oversight on my part. The posts have now been taken down."[63]
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) took action against Bartlett in August 2022 for breaching the CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4, in which he advertised the meal replacement firm Huel on his The Diary of a CEO podcast without clearly disclosing its nature as an advertisement. The ASA ruled that the advertisement must not appear again in its current form and subsequently advised Bartlett and Huel to "ensure that they made clear the commercial intent of advertising content in podcasts in future, for example by including a clear and prominent identifier such as 'advertisement' and making sure the break from editorial content to the ad was clearly and audibly identified."[64][65]
In August 2024, advertisements featuring Bartlett by Zoe and Huel were banned by the advertising standards authority because they did not properly disclose their relationship with Bartlett.[66][67]
Recognition and public image
In 2020, Bartlett was inducted into the Manchester Hall of Fame. In the same year, he was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.[22][68] In 2025, Bartlett was included in the inaugural Time 100 creator list – recognising the most influential people on the internet.[69] Bartlett's reputation among the general public has been described as polarising.[27] Writing in The Independent, Zoë Beaty suggested that "all kinds of people will tell you they think he's a "narcissist", a "grifter", "a hustler", describing him as part of an "emergent culture of marginally successful people deciding they're experts on everything" with Nick Stylianou calling Bartlett "a pseudo-intellectual".[27]
Feminist writer Jessica Valenti said of Bartlett that "they don't see women as people" and alleged that he produces "incel propaganda dressed up as intellectual debate".[70] Feminist YouTuber Therese Lee suggested that "Steven Bartlett serves as a Trojan horse for the manosphere".[71]
In September 2023, Bartlett accompanied William, Prince of Wales, on Royal visits in Bournemouth after being announced as an advocate of his foundation, Homewards.[72] In March 2025, Bartlett joined the Prince of Wales on a visit to Aberdeen as part of the Homewards initiative, where they met with youth supported by local homelessness prevention programmes and businesses involved in the project.[73][74][75]
In 2025, Bartlett was named among the UK's most influential Black people on the Powerlist 2026, the list recognises the most influential individuals of African, African Caribbean, and African American heritage in the United Kingdom.[76][77][78]
In March 2026, Bartlett's podcast, The Diary of a CEO, won the award for Best Business & Finance Podcast at the 8th annual iHeart Podcast Awards.[79][80][81]
Bartlett was ranked third on the 2026 Forbes Top Creators list, with reported earnings of $52 million.[82][83]
Books
- Bartlett, Steven (2021). Happy Sexy Millionaire: Unexpected Truths About Fulfilment, Love and Success. London: Yellow Kite. p. 272. ISBN 978-1529301496.[84]
- Bartlett, Steven (2023). The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life. London: Ebury Publishing. p. 368. ISBN 978-1529192742.[85]
Other activities
In 2019, he featured in the Channel 4 series The Secret Teacher,[86] going undercover at a school near Liverpool as a teacher.[87]
In September 2025, Bartlett appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, discussing various beliefs such as that he and his team always "sweat the small stuff".[88]
He created the private equity company Catena Capital,[89] in December 2020, then joined the board of directors of Huel, a meal replacement company, as a non-executive director.[90][6] In February 2025, he stepped down from the board of directors of Huel.[91] During his early years, Bartlett moonlighted as a rapper under the moniker "Lyricist".[when?][27]
In July 2026, ABC announced that Bartlett would appear as a guest Shark on the 18th season of the American business reality television series Shark Tank. Bartlett had previously been an investor on Dragons' Den, the British adaptation of the same television format.[92][93]