Ex-Barclays credit trader selling £60 drinks: "No regrets"
Ovie Faruq, the former high yield credit trader who left Barclays in March 2022 and who’s since become a sensation in the world of NFTs with 'Rekt brands,' has got a new sideline: drinks.
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Faruq, who says he has "no regrets" about leaving trading, is now selling lime-flavoured sugar free drinks under his Rekt brand. They cost $69.69 in the US and £59.69 in the UK for a pack of 24. You could buy them here, but they're currently out of stock after Faruq says he sold 222k of them worldwide in under 48 hours.
Faruq's beverage side hustle comes after Logan Paul - a YouTuber and wrestler, and KSI - a boxer, generated an estimated $1.2bn in revenues fro selling 'Prime', a sugar-free "hydration drink" last year.
Alongside drinks, Faruq is still selling his "Rekt-guy" NFT artwork and has just raised $1.5m in seed money to continue developing his brand.
Faruq grew up in the Cambridgeshire countryside before studying economics at the LSE. He said previously that he gave up art at school even though he was "really into it" and came up with the idea for the Rekt-guy when he was doodling during a Barclays morning meeting.
Speaking this week, Faruq tells us that life is now quieter but that all good. "I definitely miss the atmosphere on the trading floor, sitting in my home office doesn't quite have the same electricity, but ultimately I have no regrets and feel like I'm working on some very exciting things."
Credit traders have had a bountiful 2024 and can expect big bonuses. Lime flavoured drinks may be equally lucrative.
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