KSI almost lost $100 million after attempting to quit Prime one day before production

KSI almost missed out on more than $100 million (£83 million) after attempting to quit Prime just one day before production.

In case you hadn't noticed, Logan Paul and KSI's hydration drink has become somewhat of a global phenomenon since launching last year.

We've seen people selling bottles on the black market, shops ramping prices up to £100 a pop, and chaotic scenes at supermarkets as desperate customers scramble to get their hands on the liquid gold.

So it came as no surprise that Prime's creators have made an astronomical amount of money in the process.

But it nearly turned out very differently for KSI, as revealed when the YouTuber-turned-boxer duo appeared on KISS 1065 radio in Australia last week.

While speaking with the show's hosts Kyle and Jackie O, the Sidemen star, also known as JJ, admitted that he 'nearly didn't do it'.

When asked why, Paul stepped in to explain that 'it was a last minute ditch'.

"The day before 10 million bottles were going into production, the first 10 million bottles - actually, on the bottle right now, at the very end the message says 'humbly, the Prime team'," he explained.

Prime

"At first it said 'humbly, Logan Paul and KSI'.

"But the day before, because things were moving too fast and JJ hadn't met the partners as he was based in the UK, and he didn't really know the process and kind of was just trusting us blindly, he left the group chat."

As you can imagine, it was a bit of a panic for Paul, who was literally on the verge of launching the business with KSI's face all over it - sans KSI.

Paul continued: "His manager calls me, he goes, 'Yeah, man, it's not really working out. JJ, he's not gonna be able to do the project with you guys.'

"I'm like, dude it's going into production tomorrow. So I called him [KSI] up and I was like, 'Hey man, I'm just going to tell you, I don't want to do this without you. I don't want to make this drink company by myself - I need you.'"

Kyle interjected to say, "That was the phone call that saved the product," to which Paul said, "Essentially, yeah."

When asked why he was so apprehensive about joining Prime, KSI said: "It was just moving so fast. For me, I'm really particular... it's a huge project.

Instagram/@ksi

"To launch, as well, we needed to make sure everything was perfect."

It's a good job he eventually agreed, as later on in the interview Paul shared some of the numbers Prime has been doing since its inception.

In their first year, they made an eye-watering $250 million (£207 million) in retail sales, grossing $110 million (£91 million) internally. And in January 2023 alone, they made $45 million (£37 million).

Could you imagine the FOMO if he'd said no.