A rebellious teen who was homeless and got kicked out of college with a baby on the way could never have imagined he would one day be running a £1 million business. Tony Habib King's future was not looking too bright when he was thrown out of college because of poor attendance.
He met the love of his life and got married at the age of 18, months before they discovered they were expecting a baby. The parents-to-be, from Chorlton, Manchester, lived together in Tony's family home for a while, but it did not work out, so they were housed in a temporary hostel by Manchester City Council for months before they found themselves a flat.
Little did the couple know that Tony, who as a teen had no clear career path, would soon find his calling in property sales, work his way up in real estate and end up launching his own company worth £1 million with offices in both Manchester and Dubai. Tony, who said he never enjoyed traditional education and preferred learning from people instead, told the Manchester Evening News he always felt he was "destined" for bigger and better things.
Tony, who now lives in Prestwich, left school at 16 and enrolled in college, only to be kicked out after a year because of poor attendance. When he was 18 he fell in love and got married, with his new wife falling pregnant just seven months after.
The pair initially moved into Tony's home, but they quickly realised their new living situation was not going to work out, so they approached the city council to help them find somewhere else to go. They were put up in a hostel, which Tony said "wasn't too bad" as they were "so loved up" they just wanted to be together.
After two months in the hostel, their families put some money together and found them a flat in Cheetham Hill. After a year of claiming benefits, Tony knew he had to kick-start his life and get a job.
His dad managed to get him a job in the property world – which is where his journey really began. “I approached my dad and said, ‘We need to do something, we’re on the dole not doing anything,’” he said.
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“That’s when my dad got me a job in real estate and that’s when it really began. I was working in property management but we were doing other stuff like debt management. I was learning and learning constantly.”
After starting his new job aged 22, Tony built his way up in the company and remained in the role for 10 years. After a decade, he realised he wanted a new challenge, approaching his friend Zak Jennings who had his own letting company in Manchester city centre.
The dad-of-four was offered a job as a manager and remained there for a year. But Tony wanted more – eventually going on to set up his own business with Zak in April 2022, Gold Ace Real Estates.
“We’ve got estate agents here and in Dubai,” Tony added. “We opened them at the same time. There are building going up there constantly. In one month, we made a profit. We have a six-person team and over there we’ve got 12.”
Tony claims the business, which operates in sales, lettings, managements, investments and off market deals which coincide in property cash buying, is now worth around £1m. “I’ve got a blacked out Mercedes,” Tony added.
“I deserve where I am now. I was destined for it – but that’s only part of it. I know how successful I’m going to be and no one is really going to get in my way. The King became the ace.”
