By taking a chance and investing in a start-up company before it proved itself – or as an employee taking stock options in lieu of a larger salary or selling royalties at the right time – these people took a chance that paid off handsomely. From a masseuse to the makers of America's favourite sports drink, read on to discover the stories of everyday people who struck lucky and reaped the financial rewards. 

Now owned by PepsiCo and sold in over 80 countries, the sports drink Gatorade was originally developed by Dr Robert Cade at the University of Florida. It was first tested by the Florida Gators, the university athletes, on a hot day in 1965. When the test suggested that athletes who drank Gatorade performed better than those who didn't, Cade offered the University the chance to buy 100% of the rights to the drink for $10,000 (the equivalent of $88.5k/£65k in 2021). The University refused. Gatorade was instead snapped up by canned goods company Stokely-Van Camp and quickly became the official sports drink of the National Football League. Because Cade and his three assistants maintained some of the rights, they've made an astonishing $1.1 billion (£808.7m) between them since 1965 – while the University of Florida, which eventually secured a 20% stake after suing Cade in 1971, has made a comparatively modest $281 million (£206.5m).

Back in 1999, Bonnie Brown was working part-time at Google HQ as the in-house masseuse. She was on $450 (£343) a week. She got stock options too, which she never thought would amount to much. She was very wrong about that though. After five years of pummelling the backs of Google employees she cashed in most of those options and retired a multi-millionaire. She can now afford her own weekly massage and a whole lot more!

Nate Keller was another Google employee with no ties to the tech side of the business to make a killing from the company's IPO. He initially turned down the job as executive chef, thinking that working in a staff canteen wouldn't do much for his resume, but a friend of his working at Google persuaded him that it was worth it for the stock options alone. It certainly was. Although the exact value of Keller's share is not known, it's thought he became a millionaire many times over.

Over a dozen employees at Mumbai-based fin-tech company Citrus Pay became rich when it was bought by online payment service provider PayU. The all-cash deal, estimated at $130 million (£97 million), made one of the company's first employees, the office boy, a rupee millionaire. Shyam Kumar took home around Rs5 million ($76,000/£58,315).

Norwegian Kristoffer Koch invested a mere 150 kroner ($23.51/£17.96 today) in 5,000 Bitcoins back in 2009. He found out about the digital currency while writing his thesis on encryption and decided to have a dabble. He completely forgot about this investment until 2013 when a news story about Bitcoins jogged his memory. He then discovered that his tiny investment was worth $886,000 (£675,000). If he still has them they will now be worth around $34.5 million (£26 million).

Oxford graduate Alessandra Sollberger (pictured) is another successful Bitcoin investor. In 2012 she spent the grand total of $9 (£6.86) on 400 Bitcoins. She sold 250 coins when the price hit $82 (£62) in March 2013, making her more than $20,000 (£15,000). She then sold another 100 Bitcoins in 2014, netting her $60,000 (£45,000). She used this windfall to set up her own business Evermore Health, which sells vegan and organic nutritional supplements.

For Anton Marinovich's eighteenth birthday, his grandma gave him $1,000 (£763). The cash came with terms and conditions, however. He wasn't to whittle it away on frivolities, but to invest it wisely in the stock market. He chose to buy Apple Inc stock. That was in 1995. Seventeen years later in 2012, his investment was worth more than $240,000 (£183,240), and he was also receiving over $1,000 (£763) a quarter in dividends. It's not known whether he still holds the stock.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, China's Silicon Valley, Dajiang Innovation Technology Co., known as DJI, might not be a familiar name, but increasingly you will see its products whizzing about overhead. DJI is the biggest global player in the drone market. It is the brainchild of Frank Wang and it took off thanks to a $90,000 (£68,000) cash injection from family friend Lu Di. Di obviously knew a good investment when he saw one, his stake is now reportedly valued at $1.3 billion (£970 million).

Graffiti artist David Choe painted some murals on the walls of Facebook's original Silicon Valley HQ back in 2005. He was offered payment of close to $60,000 (£45,805) or stock options. Choe decided to gamble on the stock options and when Facebook went public in 2012 it was estimated that Choe's stake was worth over $200 million (£152 million). Not bad for a street artist who was yet to hit 40, but Choe doesn't always enjoy the notoriety that has resulted from his story.