Frankly, when I read the story of Benjamin Kapelushnik, I wasn’t sure it was real. After further research, I found that Benjamin’s story is far from fallacious.

Benjamin Kapelushnik – a regular boy – born in New York – grew up in Miami. He was the son of Russian immigrants, but American fad culture took him by storm while he was only in middle school. Benjamin grew up in a school engulfed in the sneaker culture. At the beginning of his intermediate schooling, he was relatively unamused with the seeming obsession with shoes. That was until his mother bought him a pair of Nike Lebron 9 “Galaxies.” Naturally, his empire started with him selling the gift he received from his mother. Being quickly infatuated with his profits he asked his mother to buy him another pair – he sold the second pair as well. With the cash he earned he began to purchase more sneakers. It did not take long before he began to camp out to buy sneakers on their release dates. After some success he moved his ever-growing platform online.

He grew and grew until he was able to snatch a connection to the songwriter Khalid. It did not take long before he made connections with several celebrities such as Kevin Hart, Travis Scott, Floyd Mayweather, and believe it or not, P. Diddy – yes, remorsefully, he is still a teenager. Eventually the boy was named “The Sneaker Don.”

Whether it is because of humility or not, the ambitious teenager does not disclose his revenue, but it is clear he makes more the 6-figures annually. The Sneaker Don plans on going to Yale University for marketing for the purpose of hopefully learning strategies that will help him expand his business.

Citation:

Levin, Tim. “Meet the 16-Year-Old Sneaker Reseller Earning Six Figures from Yeezys and Air Jordans.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 28 July 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/timlevin/2016/07/27/meet-the-16-year-old-sneaker-reseller-earning-six-figures-from-yeezys-and-air-jordans/.