HIS bad gambles and lack of focus saw him fired by Lord Alan Sugar on The Apprentice in 2013.
But Alex Mills has had the last laugh, as he now ranks among stars like Marcus Rashford and Ed Sheeran as one of the richest young people in the country, with an eye-watering fortune of £16million.
In fact Alex, 31, named on the Sunday Times Rich List of young millionaires, is now the richest contestant to ever appear on the BBC reality show.
Alex's path to success wasn't a straightforward one – he admits he flunked his GCSEs and worked a housekeeper job that paid a measly £4.20 an hour.
But after building his insurance start-up company, he now drives a fleet of luxury cars, owns an expensive watch collection, and has even bagged a glamorous wife.
Here we take a look at Alex's meteoric rise to the top and how he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.
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Posh pad and flash cars
The businessman now lives an extraordinary life with expensive customised supercars.
He bought his first Ferrari as soon as he could afford it and has since added to the collection.
He has showed off his red Ferrari 488 in pictures – which has a price range of a whopping £368,000 for the 2021 version.
In May this year Alex unveiled another brand new Ferrari Roma and gushed about how impressed he was with his new motor on Twitter.
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The retail price for the 2021 model of that vehicle starts from £170,000, while the 2022 model sells from a staggering £202,000.
Alex also appears to own a Land Rover Defender, the price range for which begins at £58,000.
His new cars are in sharp contrast to the humble Mini he drove in 2007.
The Welsh entrepreneur now lives in a huge house in Wenvoe, near the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales – the property comes with an electric gate for added security.
Not the shy and retiring type, Alex has a 3ft letter M brandished across his property's gate, which he says stands for Mills Manor.
The house has ample parking space for his fleet of flash motors and a massive front lawn with neatly trimmed hedges.
Alex clearly appreciates the finer things in life and has showed off watches by the likes of designer Patek Philippe worth up to an eye-watering £125,000.
Glamorous wife
Alex is now married to Emma and enjoys being at home with her and their two sausage dogs, Elton and Benji, who have their own page on Instagram.
Like many Brits, the couple had to postpone their wedding on numerous occasions due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
They finally married in a lavish ceremony where he appears to have had six groomsmen.
Although the couple are known for their flashy assets, Alex maintains they try to remain grounded as much as they can.
Describing his perfect Saturday in an interview, he said: "I'd do a morning gym workout, watch a bit of James Martin on TV, then head to the shops to pick up some ingredients, clean the cars in the afternoon, and then start cooking supper."
They clearly have a sense of humour – one snap shows Alex dressed in drag with Emma as a sexy nurse.
During The Queen's Platinum Jubilee display, they went all out to celebrate by decorating their home with dozens Union Jack flags and bunting.
Humble beginnings
Alex was born in Cardiff but moved out of the city with his family at a young age.
They didn't have a lot of money – Alex'smum ran a children's nursery while his father was a manager at a local furniture company, reports The Times.
Alex was never one for school; he previously confessed he never felt like he fitted in and was assessed to see if there was something wrong with his concentration when he didn't do well.
Alex was always more focused on making money and quit school at the age of 16 with GCSE results of Cs and Ds.
Afterwards he became a laundry boy and housekeeper for the plush Vale Resort in the Vale of Glamorgan while studying graphic design at college, earning just £4.20 an hour.
Determined, he launched a company making slate signs for houses and memorials but found that there was not much room to grow it into the empire he was after.
Apprentice and breakthrough
Realising that he needed an investor to begin his insurance company, Alex signed up to The Apprentice in 2013 and instantly became a fan favourite due to his neatly plucked eyebrows.
He had never watched the BBC series and binged on it when he was selected.
After a strong start, Alex was devastated when he was eventually fired by Lord Sugar as he did not have a job or business to go back to.
He picked up some night shifts working as a security guard at a hotel in Cardiff and used the time away from the limelight to consider his next move.
He landed a job working for an insurance company but felt like a failure when he was made redundant for the second time in his professional life.
He decided to start his own insurance company, Dynamo Cover, and found an investor in Stephen Jenkins, a Welsh businessman, who gave him £15,000.
The business quickly started making money and generated £30,000 in its first month alone in 2017.
Five years later, Barry-based Dynamo Cover has employed over 30 people with sales of its policies generating millions of pounds.
Last year he spoke about his ambition to replace Lord Sugar on the hit BBC series – admitting that he has never heard from the mogul since leaving the show.
He said: "Sixteen people put their lives on pause to get investment from Alan Sugar. I think there should be some form of commitment afterwards.
"We didn’t get to speak to him much – just in the boardroom and in the final for two minutes and that’s it. Maybe a personal note from him would be nice."
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With all his success, Alex says he is aiming for an appearance on the list of billionaires in the country and won't stop until he reaches his goal.
He told Wales Online: "We're going for a billion and I think we can do it. I don't think there's anything that says we can't."
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