Web company boss stole £30,000 from his mother's credit card to set up business aged just 17 - and is now worth £150million and has pop bands play at his office Christmas parties Andrew Michael, from Cheltenham, set up website business for A-Level project Needed fibre optic Internet to grow, which in 1997 meant paying for excavations Able to pay off mother's credit card bill in the first month, and she forgave him Aged 39, has started two more firms and is among UK's top web entrepreneursBy Rory Tingle For Mailonline Published: 16:12 GMT, 12 February 2019 | Updated: 16:15 GMT, 12 February 2019 Viewcomments Andrew Michael, from Cheltenham, (pictured on November 18, 2018) set up a website business offering email and web services to companies for an A-Level project in 1997 A web entrepreneur has revealed how he stole £30,000 from his mother's credit card to create his first business aged 17 - the first step in the road to creating a £150million fortune. Andrew Michael, from Cheltenham, set up a website business offering email and web services to companies with his friend for their A-level project in 1997 - but needed fibre optic broadband to expand it. Back then this required paying for excavations to lay the cables, which Mr Michael did over the phone without his mother's knowledge - gambling that his future takings would be enough to cover the credit card bill. Thankfully it worked, and Mr Michael and his business partner Alex Wilding were soon cashing in. 'By the end of the month we had enough clients and money to pay for the internet line and the advertising,' Mr Michael told the BBC's The Boss. He insists his mother forgave him - although it is not clear exactly when she found out. After leaving St Edward's School in Charlton King's, Cheltenham, Mr Michael decided to skip university to focus on growing Fasthosts. Five years later it was listed as the second-fastest growing technology firm in the country. Mr Michael paid £30,000 with his mother's credit card, but the gamble paid off and Fasthosts was soon booming. He is seen with Richard Branson (left) and posing with a helicopter Another nine years on, and aged 26, he sold it for a whopping £61.5m, pocketing £46m from his 75% share. But he did not rest on his laurels, and in 2009 founded a cloud storage company called Livedrive. In 2014, he sold it for an undisclosed amount, thought to be in the tens of millions. Spurred on by his success, the entrepreneur regularly made the headlines for his lavish Christmas parties, which reportedly saw the likes of Sugarbabes, Girls Aloud and The Darkness in attendance. The self-confessed party animal also paid for Usher to sing at his girlfriend's birthday. Spurred on by his success, the entrepreneur regularly made the headlines for his lavish Christmas parties, which reportedly saw the likes of Girls Aloud in attendance. They are pictured in London on September 28, 2003 The self-confessed party animal also paid for Usher (seen at an LA gig on September 25 last year) to sing at his girlfriend's birthday Mr Michael, who was born in Cyprus before being raised in Cheltenham, credits his father for passing on his strong business acumen. 'My father came over from Cyprus, and was very much a small business man,' he says,' he said. 'Like many Cypriots, he opened up fish and chip shops and cafés, and so some of my childhood was spent driving around those sites, collecting takings, and discussing business ideas.' Mr Michael's latest venture is Bark.com, a platform for people to book local professionals such as music teachers and personal trainers. Mr Michael is now working on his new company, Bark.com, a platform for people to book local professionals such as music teachers and personal trainers. He's seen at the company's headquarters on November 28, 2018 Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility