Most billionaire stories start with a big idea, a rich investor or a famous university. Sara Blakely’s started with a pair of pantyhose and a pair of scissors.
She had no fashion background, no retail experience and no business degree. What she had was $5,000 in savings and a stubborn belief that a small, annoying problem was worth solving. That belief became Spanx, and it made her one of the best-known self-made women in business.
This is her full story: how she started, what went wrong, how she won, what has happened to Spanx lately, and what she’s doing today.
Sara Blakely at a Glance
| Full name | Sara Treleaven Blakely |
| Born | February 27, 1971, Clearwater, Florida |
| Age | 55 |
| Known for | Founding Spanx; launching the footwear brand Sneex |
| Lives in | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Husband | Jesse Itzler (married 2008) |
| Children | Four |
| Net worth | Around $1.4 billion (Forbes estimate, October 2026) |
Early Life: A Lesson in Failing
Blakely grew up in Florida and studied at Florida State University. She planned to become a lawyer, but twice did poorly on the entrance exam and dropped the idea.
One thing from her childhood stuck with her. Her father used to ask her and her brother at dinner, “What did you fail at this week?” If they’d tried something and flopped, he cheered. Not trying was the only real failure. Blakely has said this took the fear out of trying new things, and it shaped everything she did later.
After college she took a job selling fax machines door to door for Danka. It was hot, repetitive work with plenty of rejection. She did it for years, and it taught her how to pitch, how to hear “no” and how to keep going.
The Idea: A Party, White Pants and Scissors
At 27, Blakely was getting ready for a party and wanted to wear a pair of white trousers. The problem was her underwear. Panty lines showed. Regular pantyhose gave a smoother look, but the seams and the stitched foot looked bad with open-toe shoes.
So she cut the feet off a pair of control-top pantyhose and wore them under the trousers. The shape was better. The hosiery kept rolling up her legs, though. Still, she’d found something. If a product like this existed and worked properly, many women would buy it.
She looked in stores. It didn’t exist.
Taking the Leap With $5,000
Over the next two years, Blakely kept her day job and worked on the idea at night and on weekends. She put in $5,000, her entire savings, and moved ahead without outside investors.
She researched hosiery makers, studied patents and spent hours in the library. She even wrote much of the patent application herself to save on legal fees. She picked a name with a hard “K” sound, because she’d heard that strong-sounding brand names stuck in people’s heads, and she changed it to the now famous spelling.
The Obstacles
This part of the story is far less glamorous.
Most hosiery mills were run by men, and most of them didn’t take her seriously. She called and visited one mill after another and got turned down again and again. Some thought the idea was silly. Others simply didn’t believe a woman with no industry experience could pull it off.
Then something unexpected happened. A mill owner in North Carolina called her back. He’d talked it over with his daughters, and he had received strong encouragement from his three daughters. That one phone call opened the door.
The Breakthrough: A Bathroom Demo and a Big Endorsement
Getting a product made was only half the battle. Now Blakely had to get it into stores.
She flew to Dallas to meet a buyer at Neiman Marcus. When the meeting felt like it wasn’t going anywhere, she took the buyer into a restroom and showed her the before-and-after on the spot. The buyer was convinced. Neiman Marcus placed an order, and other major retailers soon followed.
In 2000, Oprah Winfrey named Spanx one of her “Favorite Things,” and orders surged. In 2001, Blakely signed a contract with the shopping channel QVC. Blakely was also doing in-store appearances, packing orders herself in the early days and talking to customers directly.
In the first year, Spanx sold about $4 million worth of products. Sales kept climbing every year after that.
From Startup to Billionaire
Blakely never took outside investment in the early years. By 2012, she still owned 100% of Spanx, had no debt and had never taken outside funding. That year, Forbes put her on its cover as the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. She kept expanding the line beyond hosiery, adding leggings, bodysuits and everyday clothing. She also started giving back, setting up the Sara Blakely Foundation to support women entrepreneurs and joining the Giving Pledge, a commitment by wealthy donors to give away most of their fortunes.
The 2021 Blackstone Deal
In 2021, Blakely sold a majority stake in Spanx to the investment firm Blackstone. The deal valued the company at $1.2 billion. Blakely kept a significant minority share and moved from CEO to executive chair.
She also made a gesture people still talk about. She gave every Spanx employee two first-class plane tickets and $10,000.
What Has Happened to Spanx Lately
Here’s the part that’s often missing from older articles.
After the sale, the shapewear market changed. Newer brands, especially Skims, took a large share of the category. Since Blackstone bought Spanx, the company has cycled through five CEOs while profits fell by nearly half.
In 2026 things came to a head. Blackstone sold its majority stake to HPS Investment Partners, the private credit lender that had provided Spanx’s debt financing in 2021. Reports describe an out-of-court restructuring in which lenders took control. Blakely has now left the Spanx board to focus on her new footwear brand, Sneex.
The exact value of whatever stake Blakely kept hasn’t been made public. But she had already taken a large part of her wealth off the table in 2021, which is why many commentators call her exit well timed.
What Is Sara Blakely Doing Now?
Building Sneex
In August 2024, Blakely launched Sneex, a footwear company built around a hybrid of a sneaker and a high heel. She’d worked on the idea for years. The aim is to keep the height of a heel while improving comfort, stability and toe room. It’s the same pattern as Spanx: spot a common frustration in women’s clothing, then fix it.
Investing and Mentoring
Blakely and her husband remain minority owners of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, having joined the investment group that bought the team for $850 million in 2015. She also appeared as a guest shark on Shark Tank, and she regularly speaks about entrepreneurship and risk.
Philanthropy
She continues to support women-led businesses through her foundation, and she has spoken often about wanting to help other women start companies.
Where Does Sara Blakely Live?
Forbes lists Blakely’s residence as Atlanta, Georgia. She moved there at 27 to build Spanx, and she’s stayed. She and her family live in the city, and the company’s roots are there too.
Husband and Family
Blakely married entrepreneur Jesse Itzler in 2008. Itzler co-founded Marquis Jet, the private jet card company that was later sold to NetJets. He’s also an author and speaker. Blakely and Itzler have four children.
The couple keep their children out of the public eye, though Blakely has said motherhood shapes how she thinks about work and balance.
Sara Blakely Net Worth in 2026
Figures differ depending on the source. Forbes estimated her net worth at $1.4 billion as of October 25, 2026. Other trackers give numbers between about $1 billion and $1.4 billion. Her wealth comes from the 2021 Blackstone sale, whatever share of Spanx she still holds, investments including the Hawks, and Sneex. Because Spanx is private and has just been restructured, any figure is an estimate and could change.
Lessons From Sara Blakely’s Story
- Solve a real, small problem. Spanx didn’t start with a grand vision. It started with a frustration almost every woman understood.
- Don’t wait for permission. Blakely had no connections in fashion. She picked up the phone and started calling.
- Treat failure as data. Her father’s dinner-table question gave her a habit of trying things without freezing up.
- Sell it yourself first. Years of cold-calling gave her the nerve to walk into a buyer’s office and demonstrate her product in a restroom.
- Keep control early. Staying fully independent for years meant she made her own decisions and kept the upside.
- Know when to sell. Her 2021 exit looks smart in hindsight, though no one can time the market perfectly.
- Keep inventing. Even after becoming a billionaire, she started over with Sneex.
FAQs
Who is Sara Blakely?
She’s the American entrepreneur who founded Spanx in 2000 and launched the footwear brand Sneex in 2024.
How much money did Sara Blakely start Spanx with?
$5,000, from her own savings.
What is Sara Blakely’s net worth?
Forbes puts it at around $1.4 billion as of October 2026, though estimates vary.
Does Sara Blakely still own Spanx?
She kept a minority stake after the 2021 sale to Blackstone, but she has since left the board. Control now sits with lenders led by HPS.
Who is Sara Blakely’s husband?
Jesse Itzler, a co-founder of Marquis Jet. They married in 2008 and have four children.
Where does Sara Blakely live?
In Atlanta, Georgia.
What is Sara Blakely doing now?
Mainly building Sneex, along with investing, philanthropy and speaking.
