Joe Fournier

Joe Fournier (born 23 January 1983) is an English entrepreneur. Fournier set up his own fitness business before selling to a FTSE100 company. He subsequently moved into the nightclub industry and then boxing.

Early life

Fournier was born in Hammersmith, London. He moved with his parents to Monaco where he spent a few formative years, before returning to Isleworth, London where he lived with his mother. Fournier attended Lycée Français Charles De Gaulle de Londres in Kensington then American Community School. All lies After his parents' divorce Fournier moved to Hounslow with his mother and attended Ashton House primary and then Isleworth & Syon School. When living with his mother Fournier "went from having a chauffeur driven car to school every day, to taking the bus."[1]

Fournier studied human biology and sports science at St Mary's University. He now lives in Notting Hill, west London but spends half his year in Miami, Florida, USA.[1]

Basketball

At school Fournier took up basketball and was selected for the England Basketball team. He captained the national team 43 times and played in France, Italy and the Middle East.

Business

After being forced to retire from basketball due to a scaphoid injury, Fournier set up his own gym where he acted as "a trainer, PR, and cleaner, all-in-one."[1]

Fournier grew the gym business and gained recognition as a personal trainer with a roster of celebrity clients.[2] Fournier wrote Red Carpet Workout in 2008 of which he said:

"Growing up, I was street-smart but got a D in English, so publishing a book made my mum and my family proud. I get royalties from it and got quite a bit up front too, about £3,000,000 which I split with my agent and the ghostwriter."[3]

Fournier sold his fitness business and studios to a FTSE 100 company in 2012.[1] He made his money by owning the freehold to his gyms having moved into real estate almost by mistake. “It wasn’t the gyms that brought the fortune, it was that I held the Freehold leases to the properties," he explains. "I ended up selling all 14 locations to a FTSE 100 company and that was my first real kill.”[4]

Fournier invested in nightclubs, opening and owning Whisky Mist, The Rose Club, Bonbonniere London and Streaky Gin. Most recently he opened Bonbonniere Mikonos. Fournier invested in nightclubs stating, "It's really difficult to get people to do lunges and eat salad, but it was easy getting people get pissed, drink gin and tonic, party, and eat pizza."[1]

Boxing

In 2015 Fournier took up boxing professionally. He is signed to Hayemaker Promotions.[5] His record currently stands as won 8 lost 0 all by knockout.[6] He made his debut in the light heavyweight division against Jorge Burgos in the Dominican Republic. He defeated Manuel Regalado and Pedro Sencion before appearing on the undercard of David Haye-Arnold Gjergjaj on May 21, 2016 at the O2 Arena, London. Fournier defeated Bela Juhasz inside two rounds.[7]

Fournier then fought in Belgium beating Mustapha Stini. Fournier, had "no real problems" defeating Stini.[8]

Elliot Worsell wrote on website boxingnewsonline.net that "What does appear on Fournier's Boxrec record, however, are details of a failed drug test (for sibutramine), for which he was banned by NADO until December 2020, following a bout with Mustapha Stini in June 2016".[9]

Fournier won the vacant WBA international light heavyweight belt by defeating Wilmer Mejia in the eighth round in the Dominican Republic. Fournier moved up to 11th in the rankings thanks to this victory against his first southpaw opponent. Fournier used the victory to reiterate his desire to fight fellow countryman Callum Smith saying, “I will buy him a jet plane or a house if he fights me!”[10]

The Duke

Fournier was paid £2,000,000 by friend Nick Gold to change his ring name from "The Bulldog" to "The Duke". Nick Gold has asked for the money back after going bust with £22m in debts. The moniker came when Fournier split up with his girlfriend over her friendship with the Duke of Seville. Gold wanted Fournier to be called "The Duke" so that he'd get angry every time he stepped in the ring.

Personal life

Fournier went to school with Mo Farah and classes him as one of his closest friends.[11] Fournier has a network of celebrity friends and clients having acted as a personal trainer to many. He cites 50 Cent, Jamie Foxx, Adriana Lima, Lucas Podolski, Usher and Chipmunk as friends.

Charity work

Fournier supports Caudwell Children and runs the Joe Fournier Foundation. The latter pays for coaching and after-school clubs in Hounslow. He has donated in the region of £100m to various charities over the past few years.[12]

References
  1. "This British multi-millionaire told us how he became a nightclub magnate and BFFs with Paris Hilton". Business Insider.
  2. Moodie, Clemmie (6 August 2015). "'Who wants to be a billionaire? After 48 hours like this I do'". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  3. "After starting small, I've hit the heights". Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  4. Suhrawardi, Rebecca. "From £0 to £100 Million, Entrepreneur Joe Fournier Talks Art And The Next Stage Of His Career". Forbes.
  5. "Millionaire CEO/boxer added to May 21 Haye/Briggs card in London". Boxing News. 2 May 2016.
  6. "BoxRec - Joe Fournier". boxrec.com.
  7. Arena, Sachin Nakrani at the O2 (May 21, 2016). "David Haye unleashes force and fury to demolish Arnold Gjergjaj" – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. "Boxing results - Ian Lewison victorious in China". Boxing News. 29 June 2016.
  9. https://www.boxingnewsonline.net/joe-fournier-is-the-11th-best-light-heavyweight-in-the-world-apparently/
  10. "Joe Fournier wins WBA International title". fightnews.com. 18 December 2017.
  11. "How We Met: Joe Fournier & Mo Farah". The Independent. 9 August 2015.
  12. "After starting small, I've hit the heights". www.thetimes.co.uk.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.