15 years old and CEO of a multimillion-dollar company: this is Alina Morse

Tessa Ham • Rich & Famous • 14 Apr 2021

Alina Morse got the idea at a young age to make healthy lollipops that are not bad for your teeth. A good idea, it turns out. The 15-year-old is now a millionaire and CEO of a successful confectionery company.

At first glance, 15-year-old Alina Morse is a perfectly normal girl. She goes to high school, loves to dance and lives with her parents. Yet she leads anything but a normal life: she is also the CEO of her own international candy empire.

She managed to build her company Zolli Candy into a multimillion-dollar company, and can therefore count herself as one of the richest self-made teenagers in the world.

Idea for Zolli Candy came about at the age of 7

It all started at the age of 7, when Alina Morse had to go to the bank with her father and the employee offered her a lollipop. Her father explained to her that sweets are bad for your teeth, so she better decline the lollipop. The girl was upset. Candy tasted so good, why didn’t they make lollipops that weren’t bad for your teeth?

“She is very tenacious”, says father Tom. “She must have asked a hundred times before I suggested doing some research and talking to dentists about what a healthy lollipop would be.” The idea for Zollipops, a healthier lollipop that isn’t bad for your teeth, was born.

It took another two years and all of Alina Morse’s savings (okay, and an investment from her dad) before they researched and tested enough to come up with the perfect lollipop. Instead of using sugar in her lollipops, Alina uses xylitol, a natural sweetener.