Childhood sweethearts turned underwear tycoons from Birmingham have been named among the wealthiest individuals under 40 in the West Midlands. Dan and Melanie Marsden, founders of the lingerie brand Lounge, appear in the Sunday Times Rich List 2026 for the fifth consecutive year with an estimated combined wealth of £253 million.
The couple, who met in primary school and began dating around age 16, launched their first business, Fashion Eyes, in 2015, buying wholesale dresses to resell on eBay. A year later, they founded Lounge with just £1,000, working out of Melanie's parents' spare room. They created their first bras by cutting pattern pieces and sending them to Bulgaria for stitching, then sending finished products to social media influencers, often without reply.
Melanie Marsden told Wales Online: 'A lot of people would never reply. We'd get the odd one or two who would see what we wanted to create. Back then we only had a couple of hundred followers, so we had to gain that trust from people that we were a reliable brand and a luxury product.' Their social-first strategy eventually proved hugely successful, with Lounge now boasting 3.7 million Instagram followers and expanding into physical retail stores.
The couple, who have two children, now run their business from a glitzy headquarters in Solihull. Dan attended Redhill Secondary School in Stourbridge. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 under 40 category is topped by Gymshark co-founder Ben Francis, with an estimated wealth of £800 million.
The list also includes the top ten richest individuals and families in the West Midlands across all ages, led by Lord Bamford and family with £10.318 billion. Nationally, the list features celebrities such as Sir Elton John, JK Rowling, and Sir Lewis Hamilton, with a combined wealth of £783.5 billion. Compiler Robert Watts noted a 'tale of two exoduses,' with many foreign billionaires leaving the UK and a rise in British nationals residing abroad.
