With his hipster haircut and ambiguous occupation Survivor contestant ‘entrepreneur’ Benji Wilson appears as a fairly stereotypical 26-year-old from Melbourne. But if you tuned in to Monday night’s episode of the reality series, you would have found out there is more than meets the eye to this Contender. For instance, he claims to be a self-made millionaire!
Benji revealed to camera he was on his way to having a promising basketball career before he pulled the pin. Growing up he played the sport and was drafted to an American college team where he played for six months before dropping out.
“I’m definitely a hustler,” the Survivor Contender explained of his determination and drive. “I’ve been hustling my whole life.”
“When people look at me, they assume I’m a dumb jock and a college dropout.”
Benji then went on to reveal something not even his tribe mates know – that he is a self-made millionaire and an Amazon seven-times best-selling author.
“By the time I was 25 I built a business online that is now worth $8 million,” he said.
“I don’t need the money, I’d make more money staying at home than being out here. But I want the title, that’s what I’m out here for.”
Upon hearing this bombshell, we just had to know more about Benji!
Benji revealed on Survivor he is a secret millionaire!
With this scale of success, perhaps he’s be better suited in the Champions tribe?
How did Benji make his millions?
After six months playing basketball at a US college, Benji gave it up to, “explore the world and build businesses,” he told Now to Love.
“I’m super passionate about marketing and helping people quit their 9-5 jobs by creating their own brands and companies like I did.”
In 2013, at just 21 years old, Benji, a marketing mastermind, became an author.
“I paid writers to ghostwrite books for me and I did the marketing for them,” he explained to us, before suggesting we check out his course to see how he marketed them.
Intrigued, we found the savvy Melburnian’s online course titled, ‘Kindle Secrets: How I Wrote a Best Selling eBook In 72 hours’.
“Learn my proven Kindle system to write and market a kindle best seller, and earn $10,000+ in royalties!” promises the course description.
Benji runs online courses through his website Freedom Formula covering topics in the marketing industry.
“My favourite thing to hear from past students is ‘you saved me months of time and thousands of dollars!’,” Benji writes on online.
The young entrepreneur is also in the early stages of setting up a charity called 10 Million Meals.
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Not just a Melbourne hipster, Benji has an impressive business portfolio.
Benji’s sister was on Survivor
Benji comes from a family of avid Survivor fans. The Contender revealed he’s applied three times before landing a spot on this year’s season.
“Every time the casting call goes out, there is literally no question about whether I will be putting my life on hold for a chance to show Australia what I’ve got!” he said.
But Benji isn’t the first member of his family to play for the title of sole Survivor – his younger sister Anneliese Wilson appeared in last year’s season.
Anneliese faced a turbulent time on Survivor, she was forced to swap tribes early in the game, but she survived to the merge and was the 14th person voted off the reality series.
Benji’s sister Anneliese made it to the merge in the 2017 season of Australian Survivor. Will her big brother do one better and win the title of sole Survivor?
Taking to Instagram recently, Anneliese shared her excitement that her big brother was headed for Fiji.
“I want to officially introduce you all to my best friend and big brother, @benji.blue, who I am so excited to see play on this up coming season of Australian Survivor!” she wrote alongside a collection of images of the sibling duo.
“I passed the metaphorical and literal torch onto the next coolest member of the Wilson family – give him a follow to see all the latest updates! So excited for this next season keeping the #WilsonLegacy strong!”
