- Tom Grogan sold Wingstop UK for £400 million but found early retirement unfulfilling
- He built Wingstop UK from scratch, launching 57 outlets after 50 investor rejections
- Grogan plans to return to work, exploring finance beyond food and beverage industries
Tom Grogan, a 35-year-old entrepreneur, became a multimillionaire after selling a majority stake in Wingstop UK to a US-based private equity firm in a deal worth 400 million pounds (Rs 4,670 crore). Despite the financial success, he admits that early retirement hasn't brought him happiness, and he's now planning a return to work. According to Fortune, Grogan spent nearly 10 years building the Wingstop brand in the UK from the ground up, starting with a cold email to Texas, enduring over 50 investor rejections, and eventually launching 57 restaurants. However, adjusting to life post-exit has brought its own unexpected set of challenges.
"For seven years, your whole mind is occupied on making a success of this business. It's all you think about. And then when you get there, it's just a bit surreal. It's like, Okay, it's done now. Now what? And money doesn't necessarily fill that void either," he said.
Grogan, who started his career as a construction worker earning 5 pounds an hour, is now planning to return to work, though he's unsure of his next venture, other than that "it probably won't be in the world of food and beverages".
"You have to now change your head from we're not business building anymore. We've gone from being an entrepreneur to managing money—and they're two different skill sets. So we have to discover the world of financial instruments, stocks, bonds—all of that stuff that's all new to us, but we're being strategically careful," the entrepreneur added.
Despite his massive wealth, he's not splurging on luxuries, still renting, and thinking about his next move with cofounders Herman Sahota and Saul Lewin.
"It's boring. I can't live life sat on a beach. I think we need something to occupy our minds, to challenge ourselves. You need a purpose every day to wake up for, which we don't have right now," he said.
'Lack of Purpose"
Tom Grogan's not alone in feeling empty after selling his business. Even Airbnb's Brian Chesky felt the same after his company's IPO made him a billionaire. He thought success would bring love and fix everything, but it was a letdown. He describes the winning moment as "one of the saddest periods" of his life.
"At the bottom of the mountain, you have hope. But the problem is when you get to the top of the mountain oftentimes you are at the top by yourself, disconnected," Chesky said.
Earlier, Siddharth Shankar, an Indian-origin entrepreneur who sold his business for $500 million, also talked about the emotional aftermath of the exit, highlighting how it conflicted with his family's expectations of happiness. In an interview, he revealed that he found the transition tough after selling his company, mainly because he missed having a daily routine. After 15 years of being constantly engaged, he struggled with the sudden lack of purpose, joking about the limits of leisure activities like PlayStation and golf. He found it hard to switch off from his entrepreneurial mindset.
Despite the external validation, he struggled with the sudden lack of purpose and meaning in his life.
