Matt Moulding, the son of a tarmac layer, was minted as a billionaire last week. After floating at 500p a share on Wednesday, Moulding’s online retailer, The Hut Group (THG), ended the week at 592p, valuing the company at £5.75bn. He still owns a quarter of the business.
THG sells everything from mascara to vegan protein bars through 200 websites, including Lookfantastic.com and Myprotein.com. Its remarkable success has made fortunes for hundreds of THG staff and proved a handsome bet for Moulding’s coterie of wealthy backers, which include former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy and retail entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter.
The question is whether Moulding, 48, can repeat the trick on the public markets.
If it were up to Moulding, he probably would not be