Martin Lewis' net worth and rise to the top after tragedy made him a recluse

Martin Lewis' net worth and rise to the top after tragedy made him a recluse Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is a national treasure thanks to his tireless campaigning on consumer rights, but the man we see today is world's away from the boy he was growing up Martin Lewis is one of the most voices in Britain thanks to his tireless cost of living campaigning, but the man we see on the TV these days is a far cry from the boy he was as a teenager. In a clear show of just how influential Martin has become across the nation, he was invited to Chancellor John Healey's Number 11 residence this morning, just hours before the Budget is unvieled in the House of Commons. As news from the Budget drops, he'll no doubt be on hand to decipher exactly what it means for your wallet. But the 54-year-old financial journalist, from Manchester, has fought hard to get to where he is now as he was forced to overcome a heartbreaking loss at a young age. Here, the Mirror looks at his incredible rise to the top and his astonishing net worth as a result... The Money Saving Expert was honoured for his services to consumer rights and to charitable service in 2014 when he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This was upgraded to a CBE at the beginning of 2022. The star, who was voted the UK's most trusted voice on Brexit, has even raised millions for charity, including £4million for the Coronavirus Poverty Emergency Fund. As a teen, he studied government and law at the London School of Economics before doing a postgraduate in broadcast journalism at Cardiff University. His first media job was working as a producer for the BBC's business unit, but it was on digital start-up channel Simply Money that he debuted his Money Saving Expert persona. When the channel went bust in 2001, he was given a Money Saving Expert slot on Open House with Gloria Hunniford, and it is around that time that he is said to have started sending a regular email to friends titled, Martin's Money Tips. According to BBC Radio 4's Profiles segment, his friends started passing it on to their friends, and as demand grew, he decided to set up his own platform. In 2003 he launched his hugely successful website, MoneySavingExpert.com, for just £100 with only himself as staff. In 2012 he sold it to the Money Supermarket Group for £87million, £10million of which he set aside for charity. He remained as editor-in-chief and later as executive chair, is now estimated to be worth a jaw-dropping £130million. His achievements are astonishing given the terrible tragedy that befell Martin and his family when he was just 11-years-old. Of the earth-shattering event, he told Radio 4: "Three days before my 12th birthday I went to Sunday school - or Jewish Sunday school as it was - someone strange picked me up and when I got home I was told mum had been horse-riding with my sister and there had been an accident involving a lorry. The next day my dad told me she had died the next morning - and that was the end of my childhood. I cried every day until I was 15." The heartbreak drove Martin into seclusion for most of his teenage years, and good friend Kerry Perkins - who he met at university - said he would never be the same again. "But I think he would be the first to admit that it was the making of him in many ways because he has that drive from losing his mum and wanting so much to prove that he could do everything for her," she said . "I know she's always with him even though she isn't actually present in his life any more." For years, a terrified Martin was riddled with fear and too scared to go out in case tragedy struck again. Martin told Radio 4's show Desert Island Discs: "I never went out until I was 18. I couldn't leave the house because of the thought something else could happen." He also told how he would lie to friends to avoid socialising and pretend he was at religious events. Martin, who is Jewish, added: "It was very difficult because when all my friends from school were going to parties and meeting girls and things like that, which I'd have liked to do, I couldn't cope with it. It was a complete lie, I was a little boy. I was a little boy struggling to deal with something that nobody should be dealing with at that age." But university changed everything for him, with classmates recalling how he 'loved to party' and oozed confidence. His flatmate Elliot added: "Martin and I are very different. Martin used to have parties and I wanted to be quiet in my room and often I would be dragged into the parties - in my dressing gown sometimes - but Martin was very gregarious. People always wanted to be around him." Martin has been married to his TV presenter wife Lara Lewington since 2009. In 2012 they welcomed daughter Sapphire Susan Lewis, and he says that one of his "greatest joys is making her happy". He always makes sure he's finished work by 6pm so he can spend some time with his little girl before putting her to bed. However Martin worries about his daughter going through the same heartbreak he endured and hopes that she never has to deal with such agony. He told the Daily Star: "I close my eyes and pray that my little girl never goes through the pain that I went through. I sit there and think, 'Just let me be around until she's 20'. That's really important to me."