YOUNG millionaire Alex Lovén has made a name for himself in the world of sports attire.
The tycoon has already racked up a huge fortune, amounting to hundreds of millions. Here’s what we know about him.
Alex Loven is the founder and CEO of Net World Sports, based in WrexhamThe Times
Who is Net World Sports’ founder Alex Lovén?
Alex Lovén is the founder and managing director of Net World Sports, a major supplier of sports equipment.
Based in Wrexham, Alex has been ranked as the richest young person living in Wales.
He even made the Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated net worth of £200million.
Alex is the 15th richest person under 40 in the UK.
Having built a team of over 230 people from the local and surrounding areas, Net World Sports is already a major employer in the city.
In January 2023, he was awarded an MBE in King Charles’ first New Year’s Honours List.
Upon receiving the award, Alex said: “I am not someone who chases accolades, but being given this honour is really exciting.
He added that the honour was not just for him, but it was “for all the people who have helped build the business.”
The millionaire said that 70% of the company’s employees were based locally.
He continued: “So this is not just a personal award, it is a celebration of everything that we have all achieved.”
His entrepreneurial spirit started when he bought a cricket bat aged 13 before realising he could turn a profit by buying in bulk to sell to his friends and teachers at school.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: “I got into a bit of trouble with the headteacher over that, because we weren’t meant to sell things for more than a tenner, but some rules are made to be broken.”
He then worked long hours at a builders’ merchants to save up enough money to buy a full container of sports nets.
Net World Sports is the biggest employer in WrexhamThe Times
Alex also revealed that he was the “poorest” kid at private school, after his parents scraped together tuition fees for him to attend.
He said: “I’m dyslexic and was quite shy as a kid, so my mum didn’t want me to go to the local state school.
“Our summer holidays were always camping in Wales, instead of going abroad, and I went to school wearing a suit from Oxfam, which is something the other kids didn’t understand at all.”
We should be building young people up, not pulling them down.
Alex Lovén
In August 2024, the businessman landed himself in hot water when he flew a flag that said “woke-free zone” at his company HQ.
It faces being pulled down by council officials for reportedly failing to get planning permission.
The 36-year-old put up his flagpole in a stand against modern woke rules by stating: “We should be building young people up, not pulling them down.”
However, it has divided his local community, with some describing it as “offensive”.
The council have said it will make a decision about the ‘woke’ flagWales News Service
According to the MailOnline, an anonymous complainant said it showed a “complete lack of inclusivity” and was a display of “complete and utter discrimination”.
The high achiever has defended his stunt, responding: “The world is a tough place and life is full of challenges. A sense of entitlement or bone idleness won’t get you anywhere.
“We should be building young people up, not pulling them down.”
A council spokesperson stated that the planning members will make a decision on the retrospective planning application at a future date.
When did Alex Lovén start Net World Sports?
Alex saved up £13,000 from his shifts at a builders’ merchant to kick off his sports equipment business in 2009 at the age of 22.
By 2013, Alex had developed the FORZA football goal post range, which has supplied products for major clubs.
According to Alex’s LinkedIn page, he stated the risk of working 24 hours a day with his father “paid off”, and he did everything from sales to packing.
Now, Net World Sports is recognised as a leading sports retailer with a turnover of more than £70million.
The new facility is 411,000 square footThe Times
The company saw 142% growth between 2019 and 2021, and achieved an annual turnover of £44million in 2020.
To this day Net World Sports is a family venture, with Alex’s mother – formerly a senior lecturer at a university – having left her job to look after the company’s books.
His father effectively became his first employee, having been made redundant at the same time Alex started his company.
He said: “We made our first million in profit in 2013, but that was just a blip on the radar for me, because we reinvested everything back into the business.”
What do Net World Sports sell?
Net World Sports is a global supplier of football goal and training equipment for a wide variety of sports into 100 countries.
Under the sub-brand FORZA, the company has partnered with and supplied equipment to the likes of Manchester United, West Ham United, Newcastle United, and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
It also provides gear for its local national league club, Wrexham AFC.
FORZA is now major supplier for a number of football clubs around the worldNet World Sports
Their product range covers virtually every sport, from baseball, cricket, tennis and golf through to netball, lacrosse, handball and rugby.
The Net World Sports headquarters are said to be worth £25million, and the firm sell more than 100,000 football goals a year.
The company houses more than 10,000 products in its 411,000 square foot warehouse.