Martin Lewis sells MoneySavingExpert.com for £87m

Martin Lewis's site built a base of 13 million monthly users and seven million email subscribers

Personal finance guru Martin Lewis proved the value of his advice today by becoming a multi-millionaire in his own right. He has sold his website MoneySavingExpert.com for around £87 million.

The buyers are price comparison site MoneySupermarket.com, who recorded a total revenue of £102.7 million in 2011, but Lewis is expected to retain his position as editor-in-chief. He said: "MoneySavingExpert.com has become part of people’s daily lives, far bigger than the man who founded it and now is the time for it to stand on its own two feet."

The former Business Editor of Radio 4's Today programme has long been a familiar presence on TV and radio. Since founding his website in 2003 he has built a base of 13 million monthly users and seven million email subscribers. The website attracted 39 million unique users in the year 2010/2011.

Lewis will receive £60 million upfront with the rest dependent on meeting targets over the next three years. The deal puts him in the league of latter-day dot.com millionaires, such as "the British Zuckerberg" Pete Cashmore who is rumored to be selling his website Mashable.com to CNN for £127m.

In keeping with a long career campaigning on personal finance issues, Lewis has pledged to donate £10 million of his new fortune to charity. £1 million of that will go to Citizens Advice, in response to "terrible funding cuts" at the organisation. He has also said he hopes the deal will give him more time to focus on long-term goals, including making financial education a part of the national curriculum.