BUSINESS & CAREERS
From Issue #14
Show Me The Money
A Look At Teen Millionaires
by Liane Beam
Tyler Dikman wears a Rolex watch. He racks up nearly 6,000 cell
phone minutes a month doing business. He never leaves home without
his exclusive American Express card reserved for cardholders with at least
$150,000 in charges a year. And he has discussed the future of wireless
networking with Bill Gates. Tyler is 18 years old.
Stories of teenage tycoons were a recurring theme during the height of
the ’90s dot com boom, but many young millionaires came and went.
Take Shawn Fanning, founder of Napster, who didn’t make quite as
much as he expected when legal problems forced him to close his fileswapping
service and sell off its assets. But today, the young and wealthy
show that the era of the teenage millionaire is still alive and well.
Entrepreneurs like Tyler have come a long way from the days of mowing
lawns and delivering newspapers in order to make some extra pocket
money. Tyler was just 15 when he started CoolTronics.com, a computer-
supply company. With annual sales of $1.5 million, the Florida-based
techno whiz has now opened an office in Silicon Valley in his freshman
dorm room at Santa Clara University in California.
Tyler was on the road to financial security when most kids were still
getting allowances. At age five, Tyler was making $22/hour selling lemonade.
By ten, he was charging $37 for 30-minute birthday party magic
shows and using the money to buy stocks in Coca-Cola and McDonald’s.
Chris Mole, 18, from the United Kingdom spotted a gap in the market
for a company to sell cheap computers to students. He launched Studentdesktops.
com in September 2002. At that time he was making nearly
three quarters of a million dollars with reports of a $9 million turnover by
June 2003. It was just as 
well that Chris came up with his idea and parlayed
it into a success—his school exam results were mostly D’s and F’s.
Also turning a major profit is 14-year-old Elise MacMillan. Together
with her grandmother, the Colorado teen has been making candy since
the age of three. Elise began official production about four years ago.
Now Elise and her brother Evan, 17, produce their chocolates in a commercial
kitchen where they also have their offices. Their company, The
Chocolate Farm, was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in
1991 and 
rated one of the top youth food businesses in the U.S. in 2001.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen may be the richest child stars ever. The
Hollywood Reporter named the Olsen twins, who are just 16, two of the
100 most powerful women in Hollywood. They have a vast teenage
empire with a slew of entertainment, fashion and lifestyle products that
are part of the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen line. These include books,
videos, CDs, sportswear, cosmetics, shoes and chairs. People Magazine
reports that Mary-Kate and Ashley’s personal worth is $114 million,
while their company Dualstar made an estimated $1.5 billion in 2002.
Joining the teen millionaire celebrity pool is rookie basketball sensation
Lebron James. The 18-year-old only just graduated high school and
has already signed a $20 million NBA contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has also signed endorsements worth reportedly $150 
million
with Nike and Coke.
Teen millionaires such as 16-year-old rap artist Bow Wow, and 13-year old
hip-hop star Lil’ Romeo are no longer rare in the music world. The
pint-sized Lil’ Romeo has sold 20 million CDs over the past two years and
has reportedly $75 million in savings. He owns a luxurious home and a
customized Mercedes even though he’s not old enough to drive. Despite being
the “Richie
Rich” of hip
hop, Lil’ Romeo
says he still
enjoys “just
being a
regular kid.”
While having millions may seem like the ultimate fantasy, for Athina
Roussel, the world’s richest teenager, extraordinary wealth may turn out
to be a burden. The 18-year-old granddaughter of shipping tycoon Aristotle
Onassis, recently inherited half of the family fortune, which CNN
estimates is worth $4 billion. Athina has been both envied and pitied
over the years leading up to her inheritance. On the one hand she had a
charmed childhood complete with a zoo, animal trainer and dolls dressed
in miniature Christian Dior clothes. On the other hand, she spends her
life today under 24-hour security to guard against kidnappers, and is
never without eight bodyguards. She has also been the centre of a bitter
legal argument between her father, Thierry Roussel, and the Greek
trustees in charge of her inheritance.
Money can be both a blessing and a curse. Whether you inherit it,
cook for it, sing for it or just plain work hard for it, once you’ve got your
money what you do with it will define who you are.
What would you do
with a million dollars?
Laurie B., 17
I would probably save it until I
went to university and studied to
become a chef. Then I would
open my own restaurant, and
once it is up and running I would
travel the world and visit places
that I’m interested in.
Tyler K., 18
I would spend half of it on cars. I
would probably buy seven nice
cars, one for each day of the
week. I would put some into
stocks and put the rest that I have
left over into the bank.
Paige W., 17
I would build my parents and
myself our dream house, give
some to charity, give some to my
grandparents, and probably travel
the world. I would pay for my
family’s university fees and I
would go to university as well and
get a great, high paying job that
will give me more millions.
Sarah W., 18
I would give half of it to children
in different countries who are
starving. Even though half a
million dollars wouldn’t feed all
the hungry children, I believe it’s
a start, and hopefully it would
inspire other people to donate
money. I don’t really know what I
would do with the rest, so I would
probably save it.
Cassandra H., 16
I would pay off any debts that I
had. I would travel the world to
places that interest me, and I
would also start my own radio
station and only play songs that I
like.
Catherine O., 16
I would buy a villa in Tuscany. I
would pay for my university, give
some to charity and invest some.
