{
  "id": 13179517,
  "title": "Money & Me: 'I went from X Factor to having to sell my car to pay staff but now earn Dh130,000 a month’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/money-me-i-went-from-x-factor-to-having-to-sell-my-car-to-pay-staff-13179517",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-09T18:02:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National UAE",
    "slug": "the-national-uae",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/2026/10/09/money-me-i-went-from-x-factor-to-selling-my-car-to-pay-staff-and-now-earn-dh130000-a-month/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "JJ Thompson, a former X Factor contestant, radio presenter and podcast producer, has transformed his financial fortunes to earn an average of Dh130,000 a month in Dubai's real estate market. Despite a troubled childhood with fluctuating finances, Thompson found solace in spending money and eventually turned his financial challenges into opportunities. Starting from a £4.50-an-hour waitering job as a teenager, Thompson's journey saw him working in Harrods, a call centre, and eventually forming a boy band that reached ninth place on The X Factor in 2013. However, the band's podcast production venture failed during the Covid-19 pandemic, leading Thompson to sell his car to pay staff. Undeterred, he ventured into Dubai's real estate market, eventually earning Dh130,000 a month with a recent investment in an off-plan property in Abu Dhabi expected to yield high returns by 2030. Thompson advises his younger self to maintain a relentless ambition and not let others' skepticism deter him from his goals, reminding him that persistence will pay off.",
  "summary": "JJ Thompson has a very varied CV. He came ninth on The X Factor in 2013 as part of a boy band, spent years as a radio presenter before launching a podcast production company during Covid, which ultimately failed. Then, in June 2024, he walked away from a job offer at one of the UAE's biggest radio networks to start from scratch in real estate with no salary. More than two years later, he's…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National Business",
        "title": "Money & Me: 'I went from X Factor to having to sell my car to pay staff but now earn Dh130,000 a month’",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/money-me-i-went-from-x-factor-to-having-to-sell-my-car-to-pay-staff",
        "published": "2026-10-09T18:02:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}