Nick Bell (Australian entrepreneur)
Nick Bell | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | |
Nationality | Australian |
Alma mater | Victoria University, Australia |
Occupation | Businessperson |
Known for | Founder of Removify, WME, Appscore |
Website |
Nick Bell (born 14 August 1980) is an Australian businessman. He has founded or co-founded several companies in Australia and internationally, including WME, Appscore, and Removify. In 2020, Bell’s net worth was estimated by Australian Financial Review 2020 Rich List to be $274 million.[1][2]
Early life and education[]
Bell was born in Victoria where he was raised on a farm. He attended Mowbray High School, then went on to Victoria University, Australia.[3] He left and went to London where he worked for several bars, prior to returning to Melbourne to continue his studies.[4] He spent six weeks studying for a business degree before leaving school without graduating.[5]
Career[]
In 2004, at the age of 24, Bell launched his first business selling skincare products.[6] He later closed the business due to supply chain issues. He started WME, a search marketing firm he launched from his home with $400.[6] His group of companies grew to 1200+ employees and $160 million in revenue by 2019.[3] Bell sold one of his 11 agencies, WME, to Melbourne IT for $39 million in 2017, but he stayed on to expand the company internationally.[7] Outside of WME, Bell has founded or co-founded over 12 companies, including Appscore, Removify, Lisnic, Primal, and First Page Digital.[8][9]
In 2019, Bell co-founded Removify with Andrew Whitford, a reputation management company[10] that removes unwanted and fake reviews published on websites.[11]
Other companies founded by Bell include Hosting Australia, USEO, SEO Agency, and Results First.[12] He is also an investor in Tribe, Frase.io, Disputify, Vervoe, Cannabis, Ideapod, Lead Chat and Greenfields.[8]
Personal life[]
Personal wealth[]
Bell's net worth was estimated to be $274 million, according to the Financial Review 2020 Rich List.[1]
Year | Financial Review Rich List | |
---|---|---|
Rank | Net worth | |
2016[13] | $68 million[note a] | |
2017[14] | $114 million ![]() | |
2018[15] | $170 million ![]() | |
2019[16] | $217 million ![]() | |
2020[1] | $274 million ![]() |
References[]
- ^ a b c "Young Rich". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ Magazine, Anthill. "Australia's first start-up school targets school leavers as an alternative to university and gap year". Anthill Online. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
- ^ a b Smith, Fiona (23 March 2016). "How WME's Nick Bell perfected the art of the cold call". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ "HSC results 2015: How 'terrible' result didn't stop businessman hitting heights". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Carey, Alexis (30 October 2018). "How Melbourne man Nick Bell went from flat broke to rich-lister in just 10 years". News.com.au.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Daniel (23 November 2015). "When there's a will there's a way: founder of WME, Australia's largest digital marketing agency rises from failure to $45 million". Dynamic Business.
- ^ Simmons, David (4 July 2019). "Removify was Nick Bell's startup itch that needed to be scratched". Business News Australia.
- ^ a b "Serial entrepreneur, BRW Young Rich Lister and successful investor" (PDF). ThePRHub.
- ^ D'Mello, Christine (7 November 2017). "How Alex Louey and Nick Bell turned a $3000 app start-up into $25 million business Appscore". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ Powell, Dominic (1 July 2019). "'They can't fight back': Businesses can now get fake reviews removed through new Removify platform". Smart Company.
- ^ Hendy, Nina (1 July 2019). "Negative review? Now you can just delete it". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ O'Brien, Jennifer (2 May 2017). "Aussie entrepreneur Nick Bell sells WME Group to Melbourne IT". CMO.
- ^ "BRW Young Rich 2016". Australian Financial Review. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Financial Review Young Rich 2017". Australian Financial Review. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "2018 AFR Young Rich List: Atlassian co-founders Australia's richest young entrepreneurs". Australian Financial Review. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Young Rich List 2019: Total wealth almost doubles to $41.2b". Australian Financial Review. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
External links[]
- Australian business executives
- People from Melbourne
- 1980 births
- Living people