Iman Gadzhi is a British entrepreneur, investor, and internet personality born January 3, 2000, in Dagestan, Russia. He dropped out of high school at 17 to build IAG Media, a digital marketing agency that became his first major success. Today, he owns multiple businesses, including Consulting.com, and serves as co-owner of Whop, a platform that processes over $1.7 billion in gross merchandise value. His estimated net worth ranges between $25 million-40 million as of 2025.
The Early Years: From Dagestan to London
Iman Gadzhi’s story begins in Dagestanskie Ogni, a small town in Dagestan, Russia. Born into a troubled household with an alcoholic father, his mother made the difficult decision to relocate to London when he was just four years old. The move was meant to provide better opportunities, but financial struggles followed them.
Growing up in London, Gadzhi initially dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. He spent his early teenage years training and hoping to make it in the sport. By 15, reality set in. He wasn’t good enough to go pro, and his family needed money.
That’s when he made his first entrepreneurial move. Gadzhi started buying and selling Instagram accounts. He learned how to grow follower counts, build engagement, and flip accounts for profit. It wasn’t glamorous, but it taught him the fundamentals of digital marketing and online business.
He also offered fitness training to his friends’ parents after teaching himself exercise science and nutrition. These early hustles weren’t about building an empire. They were about survival and helping his mother pay bills.
The High School Dropout Decision
At 17, Gadzhi faced a choice that would define his life. He was managing social media accounts for a local football club and landing clients like Aflete, ZebraFuel, and FuroSystems. The income was real, and the opportunities were growing faster than anything school could offer.
He dropped out. No backup plan. No safety net. Just a belief that he could make it work.
This decision is often romanticized in his content, but the reality was messier. Gadzhi spent countless hours learning Facebook ads, cold emailing potential clients, and dealing with rejection. For every client he landed, dozens ignored him or said no.
But the gamble paid off. Within months, he was earning more than most adults in traditional careers. By 18, he had laid the groundwork for what would become IAG Media.
Building IAG Media: The Foundation of Success
In 2017, Gadzhi officially founded IAG Media, a boutique digital marketing agency. The focus was simple: deliver high return on investment for clients through social media marketing, sales funnel creation, and paid advertising.
IAG Media wasn’t just another agency. Gadzhi positioned it as a results-driven operation that only took on clients it could genuinely help. This selectivity built trust and allowed him to charge premium rates.
The agency specializes in Facebook and Instagram ads, helping businesses in fitness, e-commerce, and professional services scale their customer acquisition. Clients weren’t paying for hours worked. They were paying for measurable growth in revenue and leads.
As IAG Media’s reputation grew, so did demand. Gadzhi realized he had built a system that others wanted to learn. That realization sparked his next venture.
From Agency Owner to Educator: GrowYourAgency
Capitalizing on IAG Media’s success, Gadzhi launched his first major online course: Six-Figure SMMA. The course promised to teach others how to start and scale their own social media marketing agencies.
The response was overwhelming. People were hungry for a path to financial freedom that didn’t require a college degree or years of corporate climbing. Gadzhi’s own story made him credible. He wasn’t a business school professor theorizing about entrepreneurship. He was a 19-year-old who had actually done it.
Six Figure SMMA evolved into GrowYourAgency, a comprehensive education platform. The program covered everything from finding your first client to hiring a team and scaling to six or seven figures annually. More than 20,000 students have enrolled over the years.
Critics pointed out that not everyone who took the course achieved the same results. Many struggled to land their first client, let alone hit six figures. But enough success stories emerged to validate the model and keep enrollment steady.
The Whop Partnership: A $1.7 Billion Move
In 2025, Gadzhi made one of his most significant business moves yet. He became co-owner of Whop, a creator commerce platform that allows entrepreneurs to sell digital products, courses, and memberships.
Whop processes over $1.7 billion in gross merchandise value annually. Creators on the platform earn an average of $8,413 per month. By joining as a co-owner, Gadzhi positioned himself at the infrastructure level of the creator economy rather than just being a creator himself.
His role goes beyond equity ownership. Gadzhi is actively involved in growing Whop’s user base, refining its go-to-market strategy, and bringing his own suite of digital products onto the platform. This includes Agency Navigator, his flagship mentorship program.
The partnership represents a shift in strategy. Instead of just teaching people to build agencies, Gadzhi is now building the tools and platforms that enable creators and entrepreneurs to monetize their knowledge at scale.
Consulting.com and the Expansion Beyond Agencies
While Whop handles creator commerce, Consulting.com represents Gadzhi’s push into the broader consulting world. The platform offers training and resources for individuals looking to become consultants in any niche, not just digital marketing.
This marks a departure from his original SMMA focus. Gadzhi recognized that the agency model has limitations. It requires managing clients, delivering ongoing services, and dealing with churn. Consulting, on the other hand, can be more scalable and allows for higher margins.
Consulting.com teaches students how to position themselves as experts, price their services, and land high-ticket clients. The curriculum covers sales psychology, business strategy, and personal branding.
Critics note that Gadzhi is essentially teaching others to do what he did: package knowledge and sell it. But that’s precisely the model that has worked for him. He’s not hiding the formula. He’s selling it.
YouTube and Social Media: Building the Personal Brand
Gadzhi started his YouTube channel in 2015 with fitness videos. Nobody cared. He pivoted to business content, sharing his journey building IAG Media and offering advice on entrepreneurship and digital marketing.
That shift changed everything. His channel exploded. As of 2025, he has over 3.8 million subscribers. His videos have generated more than 4 billion views across all social media platforms.
His content isn’t polished or overly produced. He films videos in his apartment, in cars, or while walking around Dubai. The raw, authentic style resonates with young men who see themselves in his story.
Common video topics include mindset, productivity, business strategy, and financial freedom. He also shares lifestyle content, showing off watches, cars, and his Dubai penthouse. It’s aspirational, but grounded in the message that hard work and smart business decisions can create this life.
In 2022, Gadzhi made a bold commitment: donate all YouTube ad revenue from 2023 to charity. The estimated total was around $1 million. This philanthropic gesture added depth to his brand beyond the flashy entrepreneur persona.
The Philanthropy: Building Schools in Nepal
Gadzhi’s charitable work extends beyond YouTube donations. In 2019, he made an undisclosed contribution to the Pahar Trust, funding the construction of schools in Nepal. These schools provide education to thousands of children who otherwise would have limited access to quality learning.
He frames this work as a moral obligation. Having built wealth through education and skill development, he believes in creating opportunities for others to do the same, especially in underdeveloped regions.
This philanthropic focus strengthens his brand. It positions him as more than a hustler chasing money. It adds legitimacy and purpose to his business ventures.
The Controversies and Criticisms
Not everyone buys what Gadzhi is selling. Several common criticisms have followed him throughout his career.
First, many students of his courses report that the SMMA model is far harder than advertised. Cold emailing doesn’t work like it used to. Competition has exploded. What worked for Gadzhi in 2017 doesn’t necessarily work in 2025.
Second, there’s skepticism about his net worth claims. While estimates place him between $25 million-40 million, exact figures are impossible to verify. Some critics argue that his wealth comes more from selling courses than from running a successful agency.
Third, the lifestyle content draws accusations of materialism. Showing off expensive watches and Dubai penthouses can feel tone-deaf, especially to struggling entrepreneurs who bought his courses hoping for similar results.
Gadzhi has addressed some of these critiques directly. He acknowledges that not everyone will succeed, that entrepreneurship is hard, and that his courses are starting points, not guarantees.
What Makes Iman Gadzhi Different?
Despite the criticisms, Gadzhi has built something undeniably successful. What separates him from countless other online business gurus?
First, he started young. Dropping out at 17 and building a real business before teaching others gave him credibility that most course creators lack. He wasn’t a failed corporate employee pivoting to coaching. He was a dropout who made it work.
Second, his content is free. Before anyone pays for a course, they can watch hundreds of hours of YouTube videos. This free value builds trust and allows potential students to evaluate whether his teaching style resonates.
Third, he evolved. He didn’t stay stuck in the SMMA niche. He expanded into consulting, creator commerce, and tech platforms. This adaptability shows business acumen beyond just replicating one model.
Fourth, he’s transparent about the lifestyle. He doesn’t pretend to be humble. He shows the watches, the cars, the Dubai lifestyle. For his target audience—young men who want financial freedom—this transparency is refreshing.
The Current Business Portfolio in 2025
As of 2025, Gadzhi’s business empire includes:
- Whop (Co-Owner): A creator commerce platform processing $1.7 billion in GMV annually. Gadzhi’s role involves strategic growth and platform development.
- Consulting.com (Owner): An education platform teaching consulting skills across various industries, not just digital marketing.
- Agency Navigator: His flagship mentorship program for aspiring agency owners, now hosted on Whop.
- Flozy (Founder): A software tool designed to help agency owners manage clients, projects, and operations in one place, and launched in 2020.
- GADZHI (Founder): A UK-based eyewear and apparel brand specializing in blue light-blocking glasses. Launched in 2019.
- YouTube Channel: Over 3.8 million subscribers generating millions in ad revenue annually, much of which he donates to charity.
This portfolio shows strategic diversification. He’s not dependent on any single income stream. If one business slows, others compensate.
The Reality Behind the SMMA Model
The social media marketing agency model that made Gadzhi famous is not easy to replicate. Understanding why requires looking at market conditions.
When Gadzhi started in 2017, Facebook ads were underpriced. Businesses weren’t saturating the platform yet. Email open rates were higher. Cold outreach worked better. He caught a wave at the right time.
Today, the market is flooded with SMMA owners. Businesses receive dozens of cold emails weekly from agency founders offering the same services. Differentiation is harder. Trust is harder to build.
That doesn’t mean the model is dead. It means it requires more sophistication. You need a niche. You need proof of results. You need to offer something beyond basic ad management.
Many of Gadzhi’s students who succeeded did so by specializing. Instead of offering “social media marketing” to anyone, they focused on Facebook ads for dentists or Instagram growth for fitness coaches. Specificity made them stand out.
Living in Dubai: The Tax and Lifestyle Strategy
In 2020, Gadzhi relocated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The move wasn’t just about lifestyle. Dubai offers zero personal income tax, making it attractive for high earners.
For someone earning millions annually from online businesses, the tax savings are substantial. Dubai also provides a stable, business-friendly environment with modern infrastructure and connectivity to global markets.
The lifestyle benefits are obvious. Luxury living is more affordable than in London or New York. The weather is consistently warm. There’s a thriving community of entrepreneurs and content creators.
Gadzhi’s Dubai lifestyle has become part of his brand. Videos filmed in his penthouse or driving exotic cars reinforce the aspirational message: build the right businesses, and this life is accessible.
What His Critics Get Wrong
While criticisms of Gadzhi are valid in some areas, certain attacks miss the mark.
Critics often claim his courses are scams. But thousands of students have built real agencies using his methods. The model works for those who execute properly. The issue isn’t the information. It’s the execution gap.
Others say he sells courses. But IAG Media was a real agency before he ever created a course. His businesses beyond education—Flozy, GADZHI, Whop—generate revenue independent of course sales.
Some attack his wealth as shallow. But transparency about money is part of what attracts his audience. Young men don’t want fake humility. They want someone who openly admits they want financial success and shows how to get it.
The most legitimate criticism is that he oversimplifies the difficulty. Starting an agency is hard. Most fail. But that’s true of most businesses. The failure rate doesn’t make his teaching fraudulent. It makes entrepreneurship challenging.
Lessons from Gadzhi’s Success
Whether you like his style or not, Gadzhi’s trajectory offers useful lessons.
- Start before you’re ready. He didn’t wait for perfect knowledge. He learned by doing and fixed mistakes along the way.
- Document the journey. His YouTube channel grew because he shared his real experiences, not just polished success stories.
- Build multiple income streams. He didn’t rely on agency income alone. He diversified into education, software, and equity ownership.
- Focus on results. IAG Media succeeded because it delivered measurable ROI, not just activity.
- Adapt to market changes. When SMMA became saturated, he expanded into consulting and creator platforms.
- Give back. His philanthropy isn’t just PR. It adds meaning to the wealth-building process.
The Future: What’s Next for Iman Gadzhi?
Gadzhi’s trajectory suggests continued expansion beyond personal brand. His role as Whop co-owner positions him to benefit from the entire creator economy’s growth, not just his own content.
Expect more investments in tech platforms and tools that enable entrepreneurs. He’s moving from teaching people to fish toward owning the pond and selling the fishing rods.
His content will likely evolve, too. As he ages and matures, the hustler persona may shift toward thought leadership and strategic investing. The flashy lifestyle content might decrease as he focuses on legacy and impact.
The Nepal schools project hints at larger philanthropic ambitions. Funding education infrastructure could become a defining part of his later career.
FAQs
How did Iman Gadzhi get rich?
Gadzhi built wealth through IAG Media, his digital marketing agency, then multiplied it by selling online courses teaching others to start agencies. His income streams now include course sales, YouTube ad revenue, software tools, and equity in Whop.
Is Iman Gadzhi’s SMMA course worth it?
Results vary significantly. Students who apply the teachings, specialize in a niche, and persist through early failures often see success. Those expecting quick results without hard work typically fail. The course provides solid information, but doesn’t guarantee outcomes.
What is Iman Gadzhi’s net worth in 2025?
Estimated between $25-40 million based on his business holdings, including partial ownership of Whop, which processes $1.7 billion in GMV annually. Exact figures aren’t publicly verified.
Where does Iman Gadzhi live now?
Gadzhi has been based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since 2020. He chose Dubai for its tax benefits, business-friendly environment, and lifestyle advantages.
Did Iman Gadzhi really drop out of high school?
Yes, he dropped out at 17 to focus full-time on building his digital marketing agency. He was already earning significant income from clients and saw more value in real-world experience than traditional education.
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