Ashley Qualls - 17 Year Old Dot Com Millionaire

September 3rd, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

I first read about Ashley Qualls aged 17 who has made over a million dollars from a site giving away MySpace themes, on Dosh Dosh. I didn’t read all of Maki’s post, but the facts in the first paragraph got my attention:

  • Ashley Qualls started at 14 and dropped out of school to build her online business
  • First adsense cheque was for $2,790
  • Now earns as much as $70k per month from her Whateverlife.com site

Ashley Qualls

Amazing numbers, but after following a link from the Guardian Blog yesterday, I discovered that her story was even more interesting.

Many of the people Ashley does business with don’t realise that she’s only 17. She’s so young in fact, that because she’s still legally a minor, a court has appointed someone to manage her finances until she’s 18, as sadly her sudden wealth has caused issues within her family. Ashley has recruited a lawyer to try and get herself emancipated and declared an adult.

I think it’s amazing that thanks to the internet, a schoolkid can become a millionaire. At 17 I’d only just finished my first ever jobs working in brick and timber yards over the summer holidays. I remember how proud my parents were that I was capable of doing a real ‘mans’ job, getting up at dawn and working my ass off all day.

I wonder how they would have reacted if I said I wanted to build a website over the summer to make money online! I’m really envious of the opportunities available now. I seriously think that if I were a teenager growing up now, my life would have taken a totally different path. I really doubt that I would have wanted to go to Uni, although I’m sure my parents would have forced me too, even if I was generating money online.

Are there any readers out there who have passed on going to Uni in order to develop online businesses?

Bookmark & Share

Related Posts

«« What’s Your Favourite Blog Theme or Design?
Google Phone Seen In The Wild In Boston »»

About the Author

author photo

Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

See All Posts by This Author

There Are 43 Responses So Far. »

Pages: [5] 4 3 2 1 » Show All

  1. #43

    Comment by Everton on 14 January 2008:

    @Phil

    lol ‘Everton’ is my middle name (honest), so it is kind of my real name. Blair is my mother’s maiden name so I’m kind of allowed to use it.

  2. #42

    Comment by Phil Wilkinson on 14 January 2008:

    ha ha - real names Everton - now rearrange these words: “kettle, black, pot, calling..” :-)

  3. #41

    Pingback by Did you know that a young blogger can earn up to US$ 70,000 a month ? « DM2K on 8 January 2008:

    [...] reading Connectedinternet.co.uk about Ashley Qualls ” a 17 Year Old Dot Com Millionaire ” I came to a conclusion that [...]

Pages: [5] 4 3 2 1 » Show All

Subscribe without commenting

Post a Response


Comment Policy: Any comments are permitted only because the site owner is letting you post, and any comments could be removed for any reason at the absolute discretion of the site owner.