Delivery man in so much debt he was forced to steal food and sell his plasma now 'crypto millionaire'

A delivery man who says he was once so hard up for cash he stole his customers’ food to eat while working as a delivery driver and was forced to sell his plasma has revealed how he turned his life around.

Tyler Riches, from California, had racked up $2,000 of overdraft debt at age 18 while attempting to get his dream business off the ground.

While working for DoorDash, a popular American delivery chain like Deliveroo or Uber Eats, he says he found himself in a downward spiral when he couldn’t even afford the petrol needed to deliver the orders.

The now-24-year-old admits he got so desperate that he’d ask for cash tips from customers to keep his car running and often pocket the final food order of the night for his own dinner to save cash.

Tyler recalls 'rock bottom' moment

Recalling his rock bottom moment after being kicked out of the family home with no financial support, he said: “I literally had negative $2,000 in my bank account.

“I texted my parents and they said, ‘We’re not going to help you. You need to figure it out on your own.’

“So I was like, ‘Alright, let’s just start DoorDashing.’ I DoorDashed every single day, morning and night.”

Tyler was raised in a strict household but fell out with his family around the same time as his money struggles, aged 18.

After a major fallout and asking for help with his overdraft, Tyler says he didn’t speak to his parents for around two years.

Without the money for petrol to keep the car running, he then began knocking on doors of customers explaining the situation and asking for tips.

As DoorDash’s USP is contact-free deliveries, with ‘leave at door’ normally automatically selected for orders, this was an unusual move.

He said: “Instead of just dropping the food off, I would knock on every single door and ask for cash.

“Then I could take my car to the gas station, put the cash in and keep DoorDashing.

“Most times people would say no, but I really only needed one or two people that entire trip to say yes.”

"I did what I had to do"

With no money for food, Tyler explained how he also stole orders he was supposed to deliver as a way to save splashing on another meal.

“I wasn’t eating at all, so I would steal food on my drive. It sounds bad, but I had to do what I had to.

“At the end of every night, I would steal the last order. There were times where I would go DoorDash the lunch shift just so that I could eat – just so that I could steal an order.

“I would rather steal the food in private than fully admit, ‘I’m hungry.’”

Tyler also began donating his plasma, after researching ways to make cash quick. As a new donor, he was able to secure a bonus in exchange for donating multiple times a month.

In the US, selling 'source plasma' for commercial and pharmaceutical use for cash is legal and standard practice. In the UK, it is illegal to pay blood, plasma, and platelet donors.

He said: “It was crazy, just shooting a needle up your arm and giving blood just for some money to be able to clear that debt.

“There was a couple hundred dollar bonus if you came and donated four times within the same month. That was massive for me.”

Tyler made thousands from trading

While working for DoorDash, Tyler continued teaching himself about financial markets and eventually began making money through trading and cryptocurrency.

After he starting trading, Tyler then suffered another huge blow, loosing the entirety of the $112,000 he had made.

He said: “I turned $10,000 into $112,000. But I lost it all and then ended up $2,000 in the red. My life was a mess; I really needed to wake up and do something.”

Crypto trading is the act of speculating on cryptocurrency price movements or buying and selling the underlying digital assets through an exchange, aiming to generate a profit from market fluctuations.

However because cryptocurrencies are highly volatile asset classes, trading them does come with a significant financial risk for those involved.

In 2022 Tyler moved to Puerto Rico, which is a legal tax haven for US citizens with zero tax on capital gains.

He turned his life around and lives in a luxury neighbourhood where he says homes start at $2.5m. He claims he is now a millionaire from crypto.

Sharing trading tips with his 1.8M followers on Instagram, he also boasts driving a Ram TRX, which he bought brand new for $100,000.

He shares pictures with private jets and boasts about his new luxury lifestyle.

He explained: “In my neighbourhood, you can’t find a house for under two-and-a-half million dollars.

“There was nobody that was willing to finance me because I had brand new, fresh money. So I had to pretty much buy my house in cash.

“I wanted a cool car, so I got a Ram TRX, which cost $100,000. I had to buy that in cash too.”

He has been able to buy his mum a Birkin handbag worth $30,000 and jewellery, regularly sending his dad and grandfather to front-row sporting events which can cost an eye-watering $6,000.

His older brother now works for him, while his younger sister also helps with the business alongside university.

Tyler said: “Looking back at everything now with a clear head, it’s obvious that all they wanted from me was that I was going to be safe and well off for myself.

“Now that they see that I love life and I’m doing great on my own, it’s a great relationship. We have no issues.”