Dragon's Den reject whose idea of a brush to detangle knotty hair was called a 'waste of time' is now worth more than some dragons after selling stake in £70million deal

A former hairdresser rejected by Dragon's Den has now pocketed some £70 million after selling a majority stake in his revolutionary hair business.

Shaun Pulfrey has scored the eight-figure sum following the sale of Tangle Teezer, the brand which gained global acclaim for helping millions with the woes of knotted hair.

It means he now has a fortune larger than that of judge Deborah Meaden - who along with Theo Paphitis, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan - all turned him down when he appeared on the BBC series back in 2007.

The 59-year-old, from Grimsby, has sold his stake to London-based Mayfair Equity Partners, which recently floated maternity brand Séraphine, worn by Kate Middleton.

Mr Pulfrey told The Times: 'I'm incredibly excited for the future and the new opportunities it will present for our iconic and much-loved brand, including continuing to bring even more new product innovation, which is the heartbeat of the brand.'

Shaun Pulfrey didn't manage to tame the Dragons with his detangling brush 'The Tangle Teezer' in the Den in 2007

But now the entrepreneur, pictured with the product, has sold a majority stake for more than £200m

The entrepreneur braved the notoriously high-pressure environment of the Den in a bid to raise £80,000 in exchange for a 15 per cent share in Tangle Teezer.

But when it came to putting their hands in their very deep pockets, the Dragons responded unanimously: 'I'm out!'

How much each of the Dragons who turned Mr Pulfrey down are worth

Deborah Meaden - £40m

Theo Paphitis - £290m

Peter Jones - £1.157bn

Duncan Bannatyne - £462m

James Caan - £100m

Mr Jones went so far as to tell Mr Pulfrey his brush scheme was 'hair-brained'; Mr Caan called it 'a waste of time'; and Ms Meaden dismissed his product saying it was like a 'horse brush'.

Ironically, it now makes Mr Pulfrey richer than Ms Meaden, who has an estimated wealth of £40 million.

The Dragon tweeted last year: 'It's good to be wrong when a Biz goes on to make a huge success. Never believe anyone is always right.'

It also makes Tangle Teezer one of the most 'successful failures' in the hit programme's history.

Mr Pulfrey had been nagged by a friend into entering Dragons' Den in 2007. Despite facing five fearsome Dragons he felt confident because he believed that he had a decent idea.

Importantly, he also had a serious business plan having raised £98,000 from his savings from working as a hair salon colourist and by remortgaging his London flat.

He stressed it was not just about the financial investment, it was also the prospect of the extensive fringe benefits of getting a high-profile Dragon on board.

But in the event his bid for backing from the Dragons proved to be unsuccessful.

He recalled: 'Deborah Meaden gave me a really hard time saying it was like a horse brush, but before I could argue with her the next comments were coming from another direction.

'I wasn't disappointed about not getting the money because I can get that from a bank.

'But I wanted a Dragon to take it to the consumer global market and I didn't feel they heard me out.'

Mr Pulfrey left the Den empty-handed, but that did not stop him pursuing his dream.

In the nine years since his rejection, he has built a business which exports 13 brushes a minute to 60 countries around the world and has been endorsed by a host of celebrities, including X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger.

Who are the most successful rejects of Dragons' Den?

The Playbrush trio are far from the only contestants to walk back out of the Den empty handed. But an unsuccessful pitch does not always mean the end of the road. Indeed so-called rejects have gone on to achieve great success.

Like the Playbrush team, some are brave enough to reject the Dragons' offers, believing they deserve more. Other future success stories were simply dismissed out-of-hand.

Here, we take a look at the ones that got away...

Best friends who rejected Peter Jones

Friends who appeared on Dragons' Den had the last laugh after turning down Peter Jones' paltry offer and turning their firm into a multi-million pound business.

Jonny Pryn and Alex Somervell were told they were 'about to make a big mistake' by media tycoon Mr Jones, after bravely refusing his offer of £60,000 investment.

Appearing on the BBC show earlier this month, the pair turned down Jones' demands for 20 per cent of the business, causing the other dragons to snigger in disbelief.

But Mr Pryn, 25, and Mr Somervell, 27, soon proved they had made the right decision, after their company One Third Stories rose in value to £2.6million.

The hairbrush entrepreneur who is worth millions

He was famously turned down in the Dragons' Den, but Shaun Pulfrey continues to have the last laugh by raking in millions from his Tangle Teezer hairbrush

On the show, the Dragons were not impressed with the idea and failed to invest

He was famously turned down in the Dragons' Den, but former hairdresser Shaun Pulfrey continues to have the last laugh by raking in millions from his Tangle Teezer hairbrush.

Figures filed for his company in March last year showed sales soared by a massive 22 per cent to £28.6 million in the year to March 31, 2016, while pre-tax profits grew from £7.4 million to £8 million.

Pulfrey, who remortgaged his home to launch his business, did not take a dividend during the year but was paid £2.7 million in royalty payments.

The success of Tangle Teezer – which was described on BBC TV by Dragons including Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden as 'hair-brained', 'a waste of time' and 'like a horse brush' – has been phenomenal with 20 sold every minute globally.

The wine pioneer whose idea was snapped up by M&S

Deborah Meaden was among the Dragons who dismissed James Nash's concept of a single-serve glass of wine with a plastic tear-off lid, pictured on the show

M&S were a fan of the concept and adopted it as part of its Food on the Move section. It has proved hugely popular with commuters and picnicers

James Nash first took his Cup-A-Wine idea to BBC's Dragons Den in 2009 only for it to be rejected out of hand.

The invention – a single-serve plastic glass of French wine with a tear-off lid – solves the problem of feeling like a glass of wine but not having a glass or a corkscrew.

He asked the Dragons - then Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis, Duncan Bannatyne, James Caan and Deborah Meaden - for £250,000 for a 25per cent stake in his business, Wine Innovations Ltd.

However, they gave him a torrid grilling and bowed out because they were unconvinced anyone would be interested.

Duncan Bannatyne was particularly dismissive, saying: 'People don't want to buy wine in plastic glasses like that with a seal on top. For that reason, I'm out.'

But M&S were a fan of the concept and adopted it as part of its Food on the Move section. It has proved hugely popular with commuters and picnicers.

Businessman whose bottles are sold around the world

Guy Jeremiah originally presented his collapsible water bottle idea to the BBC’s five dragons in 2010.

All five dismissed the idea, and even by the standards of the notoriously tough show, they gave Mr Jeremiah a grilling. Theo Paphitis even told him he’d rather stick pins in his eyes than back his idea.

But Mr Jeremiah went on to great success and his invention is available in 16 countries.

And if that was not enough to convince the Dragons they had missed a trick, he has also signed a distribution deal with Marks & Spencer.