More questions emerge about Sam Ovens’ rags to riches story

Young Kiwi entrepreneur Sam Ovens kickstarted his online video tutorials with a blog post claiming he’d gone from broke to making a profit of more than $1 million in one year.

Yet, at the same time, he was locked in a battle with Inland Revenue over a substantial unpaid tax bill and was earning less than $150,000, according to documents obtained by NBR.

Mr Ovens, a 27-year old from Auckland now based in New York, sells online video tutorials to teach aspiring business people how to start a “wildly profitable six to seven figure consulting business.”

He claims to be worth $US65 million because his business is turning over $US18 million annually.

However, his claimed success and public image have been magnets for criticism. (See more: Just how hot is Sam Ovens, really?)

In mid-2015, Mr Ovens posted a blog, “7 Lessons Learned Going From Broke To Over $1m In Profit In 3 Years Flat,” in which the Sacred Heart old boy said he racked up $30,000 in debt. However, he claims he turned things around the next year when he made his “first ever profit” of $100,000 and then $1 million the next year.

Documents about Mr Ovens’ 2015 financial position suggest, commercially and personally, he racked up a tax bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars, was earning less than $150,000 a year and had assets of less than $130,000.

Mr Ovens declined to be interviewed, saying he was too busy working on projects. But in response to a number of emailed questions, he says his tax information is private between him and Inland Revenue.

“However, I can confirm that all my taxes are paid in New Zealand,” he says.

The blog post also says he started three failed companies but his profile on the same website tells a different story — he started two successful companies out of his parents’ garage by the age of 24.

The Companies Office records Mr Ovens as controlling four companies.

The most notable is property inspection app SnapInspect, of which he ceased being a director and shareholder in February 2015 after he sold his stake to present director Di Sun.

Mr Ovens’ three other companies are Marketing Labs, Marketing Results and Ovens Enterprises, which is overdue on filing its obligation to file an annual return and will be struck off soon.

He says SnapInspect and Ovens Enterprises were his two successful companies and for his three failed companies referred NBR to the Companies Office.

His profile also says he helped manage large digital ad spend for “some of the fastest-growing companies in New Zealand and Australia” but in his interview with NBR last month he said his clients were mostly tradesmen and retailers.

Public records say he is not the owner of any property in New Zealand and he says he rents his penthouse in New York.

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