He was famously arrested for drunkenness while celebrating his GCSEs and spent the night in a police cell in a major embarrassment for his father, the prime minister.
But 24 years later, Euan Blair’s transformation is now complete after his fortune was revealed to have hit £375million thanks to his apprenticeship company Multiverse.
Euan has entered the Sunday Times Rich List for the first time, and his position of 337th means his estimated fortune is even higher than that of his father Tony Blair.
Multiverse – which Euan set up with his friend Sophie Adelman eight years ago – uses software to match apprentices with corporate giants such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Pfizer and Net-a-Porter where they can learn while being paid.
The firm is one of the world’s fastest-growing tech firms after being valued at £1.4billion in 2022 – making Euan’s estimated 25 per cent stake worth £350million.
The 40-year-old now lives with his venture capitalist wife Suzanne Ashman and their two children in a five-storey townhouse in London bought for £22million in 2022.
The fortune of Multiverse co-founder Euan Blair’s was today revealed to have hit £375million
Euan Blair married venture capitalist Suzanne Ashman in Buckinghamshire in September 2013
Prime Minister Tony Blair accompanied by his family (left to right) Euan, Kathryn, Cherie, Nicky and (front row) Leo on the steps of 10 Downing Street as they leave for the final time in 2007
Euan and his family live a five-storey townhouse in London bought for £22million in 2022
Euan was educated at the Catholic state-funded boys’ school London Oratory, where he became deputy head boy.
But his teenage years are best known for when he was arrested aged 16 for being drunk and incapable in London’s Leicester Square in July 2000.
He was found by police officers vomiting on the pavement and an ambulance was called, but paramedics decided he did not need to go to hospital.
Euan was instead taken to a police station where he initially gave his name as Euan John, provided an old address and told officers he was 18.
He was kept in a cell at Charing Cross police station but later released without charge in the early hours of the following morning and driven home.
Tony said in a speech later that day that being a father was tougher than being prime minister and ‘sometimes you don’t always succeed’.
Tony Blair’s children (from left) Nicky, Kathryn, Euan and Leo at Windsor Castle in June 2022
Euan set up Multiverse, previously known as White Hat, with his friend Sophie Adelman in 2016
Euan went on to study ancient history at the University of Bristol before completing a master’s in international relations at Yale in the US.
He then got onto the graduate scheme at the investment bank Morgan Stanley, before deciding to set up Multiverse in 2016.
Multiverse – previously known as White Hat – was originally formed to help youngsters get into corporate jobs without going through the traditional university route.
Now the company is looking to move away from apprenticeships and focus on ‘upskilling’, which trains workers in areas such as coding.
The company makes its money by charging blue chip clients a fee once an apprentice is successfully placed. The client then pays Multiverse to train the apprentices.
Since launching, the company has raised more than £300million in venture capital funding.
Multiverse – previously known as White Hat – was originally formed to help youngsters get into corporate jobs without going through the traditional university route
The Daily Mail front page from July 7, 2000 when Euan was arrested for drunkenness while celebrating his GCSEs and spent the night in a police cell in an embarrassment for his father
Despite his privileged upbringing, Euan has previously said higher education taught him ‘nothing,’ criticising ‘a system that was obsessed with using academics, with all the latent biases and problems inherent in that, to select people.’
This was in contrast with his father, who – when prime minister between 1997 and 2007 – set the target of getting half of young adults into university.
Last November it was revealed that Euan’s firm had tripled its annual losses and failed to turn a profit for the seventh consecutive year.
Company accounts showed its revenue grew 66 per cent, or £45.2million, in the year ended March 31, 2023.
But losses widened from £14.2million to £40.5million as it invested in its US business and technology.
It won ‘unicorn’ status – a term for a start-up worth more than £1billion – in 2022 when it was valued at £1.4billion.
But despite this status, Euan told Bloomberg TV in May last year that a possible stock market listing of Multiverse was still ‘some way off’ for the business.
Tony Blair and Euan Blair walk together while on holiday in Pisa, Italy, in August 1999
Tony Blair with his son Euan and daughter Kathryn while on holiday in France in August 1997
And last October, it emerged that the company had made up to 40 redundancies over the previous year.
But the firm also signed for a larger London headquarters in August last year to accommodate its rapid growth – moving from a small space in Marylebone to a two-floor office in WeWork Paddington.
The firm has so far trained over 10,000 professional apprentices in partnership with scores of employers.
Last May the company made its first acquisition when it bought Danish education tech firm Eduflow for an undisclosed sum.