The Mystery Monk Making Billions With 5-Hour Energy

Although I have never tried a 5-Hour Energy drink, there is no doubt about it's popularity.  Who you may not know, is the person behind the drink.   Manoj Bhargava, the creator of drink and head of privately held Living Essentials, parent of the popular drink.

Headquartered in Farmington Hills, MI, the low key Bhargava does his best to keep out of the spotlight.  Bhargava, 58, barely registers on Web searches. His paper trail is thin, consisting primarily of more than 90 lawsuits and this Forbes article was his first press interview.

Full article here

• The privately held Living Essentials doesn’t report revenue or profits, but a source with knowledge of its financials says the company grossed north of $600 million last year on that $1 billion at retail. The source says the company netted about $300 million. Checkout scan data from research firm SymphonyIRI say that 5-Hour has 90% of the energy-shot market. Its closest competitor, NVE Pharmaceuticals’ Stacker brand, has just over 3%.
• Colleagues and acquaintances uniformly describe Bhargava as “humble,” and he seems proud of his frugal lifestyle: his ancient flip phone, his cheap office furniture, the modest two-story home he shares with his wife and 20-year-old son. 
• The rise of 5-Hour began in the spring of 2003, when Bhargava found himself at a natural products trade show in Anaheim, Calif. At one booth the sales reps peddled a 16-ounce concoction claiming to boost productivity for hours. Bhargava took a swig. “For the next six or seven hours I was in great shape,” he says. “I thought, Wow, this is amazing. I can sell this.”

Manoj Bhargava. Photo by Eric Eggley.