Discover the Mind-Blowing Way This Penniless Genius Turned Heartbreaking Misery into a $7 Billion Legacy
And completely transformed a niche cleaning industry by doing the one thing everyone said would never work
Carved into a flat rock near Ramsund, Sweden around the year 1030 might just be one of the earliest illustration of a tool used to stroke the flames of fire — the bellows.
If you’re not familiar, a bellows is used to blow air onto a fire to keep it stoked.
The Ramsund carving depicts the noble Viking Regin’s corpse beside his cut off head, with his blacksmithing tools scattered around him including a bellows.
Regin and his son Sigurd are written about in the Icelandic Völsunga saga, which tells the tale of father and son and their quest to seek Fafnir, the dragon’s treasure. In the story Regin forged a sword with Sigurd at his side, who provided assistance by keeping the fire going using his father’s leather bellows.
When the sword was completed, Sigurd tested the sword by striking it upon Regin’s shield. The blade broke, which prompted Regin to forge another sword out of the broken pieces of the first one. When it was completed Sigurd tested the blade once again on the shield with Fafnir’s image, and this time it not only cut through the shield but also the dragon’s horn.
The sword was now ready for battle with the dragon, which Sigurd easily won and secured the treasure including the scared Andvaranaut ring. However, this saga ends in tragedy as the ring is cursed and brings doom to all who possess it.
While Regin and Sigurd eventually died, their legend lives on through history. Sigurd as a dragon fighter and Regin as a master craftsmen, forging steel from fire.
Big Flames, Big Warmth, Big Dust
The bellows wasn’t just used by craftsmen, it was also used by ordinary folks … that is if you lived as far back as the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Back then most homes had one or several fireplaces that kept the occupants warm in cold temperatures, especially winter.
Once the fire was started someone had to keep the flames going. And that person more than likely used a bellows.
While bellows did help boost the flames, they could also create dust and debris. That because when a bellows blows air into a fire, it increases oxygen flow, intensifying combustion. This can dislodge fine ash and soot accumulated on the logs or hearth, sending them into the air as dust.
For instance in a Viking longhouse with a central hearth and limited ventilation (often just a smoke hole in the roof), this dust could settle on nearby surfaces—furs, wooden benches, or food preparation areas.
In more conventional homes with wooden floors, this debris would eventually fall onto the ground, making the space dirtier over time.
The Vacuum Cleaner Wars
So how did a person clean up this annoying dust and debris you ask Dear Reader?
Well usually the women of the house used a broom made of straw to sweep it away. But if they happened to have area rugs, the best method for cleaning was hanging them outside for a good old fashioned beating.
Yet if that didn’t do the job, the lady of the house could resort to using a bellows to blow the dust away. As you can imagine, whether beating with a stick or blowing with a bellows was labor intensive work. And you never really got a deep cleaning.
That was until around 1860 when a young fellow named Daniel Hess of West Union, Iowa, patented a "Carpet Sweeper." It used fireplace bellows to create suction and a rotating brush to collect dust into a receptacle.
But this too was labor intensive because you had to operate the sweeper by hand. So it didn’t really take off as a replacement to broom or bellows.
Thinking he could make a better machine-like cleaning device, nine years later in 1869, Ives W. McGaffey of Chicago patented the "Whirlwind." It was made of wood with a fan powered by a belt. He marketed it as a "sweeping machine," but once again it was cumbersome to use and sold poorly.
Every new cleaning invention after that was designed to beat the prior versions. For instance, John S. Thurman of St. Louis patented a "pneumatic carpet renovator," which was a gasoline-powered machine that blew compressed air to dislodge dust, collected via a hose. It was not a true vacuum but some experts say was a precursor to modern shop vacs.
And because it was beast of a machine to use, Thurman went door-to-door, selling a cleaning service, which of coursed allowed him to use his pneumatic renovator.
Hubert Cecil Booth, a British engineer, thought he had out done all the prior home dust cleaning machines with his invention of the first true powered vacuum cleaner. Inspired to reverse the process, Booth’s machine used a piston pump to create suction, collecting dust in a cloth filter.
However his "Puffing Billy" was horse-drawn, powered by a 5-horsepower gasoline engine, and way too large for homes. So he sold it as a commercial cleaning device with notable uses included Buckingham Palace. It’s also said that he helped halt a plague outbreak in the British Navy by removing contaminated dust with his machine.
The quest to create the perfect home cleaning machine continued on for years. For example:
In 1905 Walter Griffiths of Birmingham, England, patented a portable, hand-pumped vacuum cleaner, which was an early attempt at a domestic model, though still manually operated.
In 1906 Robert W. Howard of New York introduced an electric vacuum cleaner, one of the first to use electricity, but it remained bulky and expensive.
Different variations of the vacuum cleaner came and went, as each one was always cumbersome to use.
A Pillowcase and a Broom Handle Works Wonders
But one man decided to do away with large vacuum cleaners and focus on smaller units. That man was James Murray Spangler, a janitor from Canton, Ohio, who also happened to be allergic to dust.
Spangler built a portable electric vacuum cleaner using a soap box, a fan, a pillowcase as a dust bag, and a broom handle. His 1907 prototype was crude but effective, weighing in at 40 pounds. However Spangler lacked the funds to market it himself, so in 1908 he opted to sell the patent to his cousin Susan Hoover’s husband, William Henry “Boss” Hoover, who owned a leather goods company.
As part of the deal, Spangler remained as production supervisor, receiving a yearly salary of $1,500 plus royalties on each unit sold until the patent expired in 1925.
The Hoover Company produced the Model O in 1908, priced at $25, with a cloth bag and attachments for upholstery. Hoover’s aggressive marketing, including free home trials, made the cleaner a household name. By 1915, Hoover was a leading vacuum cleaner brand in the U.S.
While the exact total of royalties paid to Spangler isn't well-documented, records show that his family continued to receive these payments after his death in 1915, providing them with a fairly decent financial benefit.
However, the real wealth went to Hoover and his company, which capitalized on Spangler’s invention through innovative marketing and mass production. Spangler’s earnings were relatively small in comparison, and he didn’t live to see the full extent of the Hoover Company’s success.
Hoover not only set the the tone for the industry, but dominated the vacuum cleaner market with its portable, electric models all using bags to collect the dust and debris. It was the gold star of vacuum cleaners … unless of course those bags were a complete nuisance.
Unleashing Your Inner Inventor
James Dyson was one of three children born to Janet M. (née Bolton) and Alec William Dyson, a classics teacher.
The Dyson’s lived a good life until Alec was stricken with prostate cancer. Sadly at the age of nine years old, James watched as his father passed away from the disease. Since Alec was the sole money-maker, his death left the family facing financial hardship.
In later interviews, James would characterize this part of his life as “being penniless.”
And although the family had little to no money, James attended Gresham’s School in Holt, Norfolk from 1956–1965. This is also the same school where his father had taught. And the reason he was able to attend the school was on a scholarship.
After graduating high school, James studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art for one year. Turns out art in itself wasn’t his thing, so he switched to furniture and interior design and attended the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London for four years.
Its here he met his future wife, Deirdre Hindmarsh, in 1966. At the time, James was studying industrial design, and Deirdre was pursuing fine art, specializing in painting. They married in 1968, two years after meeting one another.
James had truly found his calling at RCA. It gave him the chance to put his design and engineering skills to use. For instance, in 1970 after graduating from RCA, he collaborated with inventor Jeremy Fry while working at Rotork Controls Ltd. to design the Sea Truck, a flat-bottomed, high-speed fiberglass landing craft.
The craft was used by military during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. But the Sea Truck was also used by civilians, most notably the Queen of England, Elizabeth II. She used it for ceremonial purposes. Her Sea Truck was painted royal blue and featured a red carpet for special occasions.
Seems James was on a roll with inventing things. In fact he left his job at Rotork and in 1974 while working on his farm located in Wiltshire England, invented a new kind of wheelbarrow, the Ballbarrow.
James noticed that traditional wheelbarrows with narrow wheels often sank into soft ground, got stuck in mud, and were difficult to maneuver, especially on uneven terrain. Additionally, unloading heavy materials like wet concrete often damaged the wheelbarrow’s tray or left residue behind.
His Ballbarrow was made of plastic with a ball instead of a wheel for better maneuverability. In 1974 he founded his own company to manufacture the Ballbarrow, funding it with personal savings and his wife Deirdre’s salary as an art teacher. He also partnered with Jeremy Kirk, who provided additional capital, business expertise, and manufacturing resources.
The company was named Kirk-Dyson to reflect their joint venture, which of course combined their surnames.
Initially the Ballbarrow achieved significant market success in the UK, capturing half the wheelbarrow market, and won the Building Design Innovation Award in 1977.
But not every good invention leads to a happy, healthy business life.
Sorry, Not Sorry & See You Later
In 1974 the UK economy faced significant challenges, including high inflation and interest rates under Prime Minister Ted Heath’s government. Because the economy was deteriorating the Kirk-Dyson Company had no choice but to borrow heavily to fund manufacturing and expansion, accumulating a £200,000 investment that incurred £400,000 in annual interest costs.
This crippling debt put immense pressure on the company’s finances, making it vulnerable to external control by investors or creditors seeking to protect their interests.
Additionally James’ ownership stake in the company was diluted as investors took larger shares to offset the financial risks. Another mistake happened when James assigned the patent for the Ballbarrow to the Kirk-Dyson company instead of to himself.
So whenever disputes arose, he lacked the necessary clout and leverage to maintain authority and control of the company.
To make matters even worse, Dyson’s sales manager stole the Ballbarrow design and sold it to a competitor, Glassco Plastics, sparking a series of costly patent infringement lawsuits.
These legal battles drained Kirk-Dyson’s resources and further weakened its financial position. But they severely eroded James’ credibility within the company.
As financial difficulties mounted and the patent disputes faltered, the board of directors, likely influenced by investors or creditors, turned against James Dyson. With his stake diluted and the patent no longer in his personal control, Dyson was outmaneuvered and fired from his own company.
James later described the loss of Kirk-Dyson as his “biggest mistake in business,” particularly the decision to assign the patent to the company. The experience was “heartbreaking” but pivotal, teaching him to retain control over intellectual property in future ventures.
When Observation Sparks Innovation
James was an inventor but also had a home to maintain with his wife. And to keep it free of dust and debris, they used a Hoover Junior vacuum cleaner. But James noticed the vacuum lost suction as its bag filled with dust, a common flaw in traditional vacuum cleaners. The bag’s pores clogged, weakening airflow and leaving dust behind, which frustrated him.
At the same time, while visiting a local timber mill, he noticed they used a rather large industrial cyclone. The device used centrifugal force to separate sawdust from air. The cyclone spun air at high speeds, forcing heavier particles to the outside and collecting them in a container, while clean air exited through the top.
This sparked an idea … James wondered if a similar principle could be applied to a vacuum cleaner to separate dust from air without a bag, maintaining consistent suction?
In 1978, he began experimenting at home, starting with a cardboard cyclone prototype attached to his Hoover Junior. He cut up cereal boxes and taped them into a conical shape, connecting it to the vacuum to test airflow and dust separation. The crude prototype worked, encouraging further development.
Over the next five years (1978–1983), Dyson worked in a coach house behind his home in Bath, Somerset, funded partly by his wife Deirdre’s salary. Unbelievably, he built 5,127 prototypes, tweaking variables like cyclone size, shape, angle, and airflow to optimize dust separation and suction.
But as you can image, creating that many prototypes left the Dyson’s in heavy debt. So James had to get a working model up and running quickly.
And by 1983, Dyson finally had a working prototype, the G-Force that was fully operational. But he struggled to license it to major manufacturers like Hoover, Electrolux, or Black & Decker.
These companies were reluctant to adopt a bagless design because vacuum bags were a profitable revenue stream worth $5 million alone (consumers regularly purchased replacement bags). They also doubted the market would want a premium-priced vacuum cleaner.
Not wanting to give up on his idea, James partnered with Apex Ltd. in Japan, where the G-Force was launched in 1986. Dyson provided the prototype machines, technical drawings, and confidential information to enable production. In return, Dyson received royalties based on sales of the G-Force.
The vacuum’s transparent dust canister and sleek design appealed to Japanese consumers, which retailed for $2,000.
The G-Force became a massive hit in Japan, quickly gaining popularity as a status symbol. Its innovative technology, striking design, and ability to maintain suction without a bag impressed consumers. It won the 1991 International Design Fair Prize in Japan, validating its appeal and Dyson’s engineering abilities.
The royalties from G-Force sales provided Dyson with a significant financial lifeline. Although exact royalty amounts are not specified, the cumulative income was substantial enough to:
Alleviate Dyson’s personal debt from years of prototyping.
Fund the establishment of Dyson Appliances Limited (initially registered as Barleta Limited) in 1991.
Support the opening of a research center and factory in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, in June 1993, where Dyson began manufacturing the DC01, his first self-produced vacuum.
The G-Force’s success in Japan proved there was indeed demand for a bagless vacuum, countering Western manufacturers’ skepticism. It gave Dyson the confidence and resources to “go it alone.”
The money he made from the Apex deal enabled James Dyson to transition from an inventor struggling with rejections to the founder of a global technology company. In 1993 James Dyson launched the DC01 in the UK, which became the fastest-selling vacuum cleaner. Those sales were aided by his new slogan, “say goodbye to the bag.”
By 1995, Dyson had revolutionized the vacuum cleaner industry with the introduction of Dyson DC15 (marketed as "The Ball"). The idea of using a ball to more easily maneuver a vacuum cleaner stemmed from his earlier invention, the Ballbarrow.
In 2005, Dyson Ltd. achieved the rank of market leader by value. Today Dyson Ltd. is produces annual revenues of £7.1 billion, which equals approximately $9 billion in US dollars.
The global vacuum cleaner industry itself is valued at $47.2 billion. Dyson Ltd. holds 20% of the global market share of vacuum cleaners and 50% in the U.K.
James Dyson’s climb to success is a story of relentless innovation, resilience through setbacks, and strategic learning from early failures, culminating in the creation of a global technology empire.
From humble beginnings, he transformed the vacuum cleaner industry and built Dyson Ltd., a company valued at billions, through persistence, engineering brilliance, and a knack for challenging conventional designs.
Amazing Quotes from Amazing People
Enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success.” - James Dyson