Billionaire Castore Cofounder Lives Frugally Despite Success

Tom Beahon, a multimillionaire who cofounded the premium sportswear brand Castore, has revealed his frugal lifestyle despite his financial success. Beahon, who retired from a career in football and finance, has a net worth of over $1 billion. He has never bought an expensive watch or clothes, and he only flies economy class, even on long-haul flights to Australia. Beahon's frugality is driven by a constant fear of running out of money, a mindset that has stayed with him since his early days in the sportswear business.

Beahon's journey to entrepreneurship began when he and his brother Philip left their football careers to work in finance in London. They aimed to raise capital for their sportswear venture, Castore. For the first three years, the cofounders paid themselves only £1,000 a month to preserve money for the business. Beahon moved back in with his parents, while Philip's soon-to-be wife paid his rent. These were "rough times financially," but even after Castore neared a £1 billion valuation in 2023, Beahon's frugal habits remained unchanged.

Beahon's fear of overspending and hitting rock-bottom is deeply ingrained in his mindset. He believes that his background and the experience of living through those three years of financial struggle have made him a saver rather than a spender. This fear has never left him, and it continues to influence his spending habits.

Despite his frugality, Beahon is generous with his parents. He likes to buy them nice holidays and business-class flights because he believes they are in the "getting to enjoy it" phase of life. Beahon, on the other hand, believes he is still in the "building stage" with long hours, so no vacations are on his horizon. He grew up proudly working class in northern England without much money, and his family didn't go on holidays. This perspective has stuck with Beahon in leading his highly lucrative athletic-wear business.

Beahon's family didn't have a "spare £40,000 lying around." With a teacher mom and construction-worker dad, Beahon recalled his parents making a "huge sacrifice" by offering to remortgage their house to give them a loan in launching Castore. Those dire circumstances 10 years ago feel very far away from the success his brand brings in now—but his pivot to entrepreneurism was about financial stability, not ultra-wealth, anyway.

Beahon isn't the only multimillionaire who skimps on holidays and expensive clothes. Lucy Guo, the youngest self-made billionaire, still shops at Shein and pulls up to work in a Honda Civic. Serial investor also vacationed for the first seven years of getting his technology company off the ground. He was "broke as f-ck" living in a three-bedroom apartment with five other roommates, often sleeping on the floor. While all his other friends were going out on the weekends, he was head-down in growing his business out of fear that the whole thing "could fall into the sh-tter." He later sold MicroSolutions to H&R Block for $6 million.

Actress Keke Palmer was also a millionaire at the age of 12—but just like Beahon, her humble upbringing guided the way she handled money forever. For the first 15 years of her career, all of her travel was business-related. And she still lives under her means in other ways; Palmer said that even with $1 million in her pocket, she’d still only rent out a $1,500 place and affordable car—no need for a Bentley. She got her penny-pinching habits from her parents, who worked with what they had.

David’s Bridal CEO Kelly Cook may be leading one of the biggest bridal chains in the country, but her early career looked a lot different. Years ago she was juggling weekend work as a bartender, her college courses, and caring for her young child. Cook described living off pinto beans and cornbread to make her money stretch, her take-home pay of $882 as a single mom barely covering her car note and rent. Now, the 58-year-old is helming a wedding giant with 200 stores across the U.S. and Canada, leading around 5,000 employees.