Andrew Tate: From kickboxer to influencer

London: Flaunting his bulging muscles, cigars and fast cars, Andrew Tate´s videos on social media fascinate millions of teenage boys.

Giving tips on how to be successful along with misogynist and sometimes violent maxims, the 36-year-old Briton has said women cannot be independent and blames those who are raped or assaulted.

His controversial output has made him one of the world´s best-known influencers.

The former kickboxing champion has been behind bars in Romania since December, as authorities there investigate him and his brother for alleged human trafficking and rape.

However, he was freed on Friday after an appeals court ordered that he be released and placed under house arrest.

Tate has denied any wrongdoing and is continuing to dispense his wisdom on Twitter, where he has grown from 4.8 million to 5.5 million followers since January.

"We will all disappear one day. The difference between me and most is that when I disappear the world still feels my presence", he wrote earlier this year.

In 2022, the words "Andrew Tate" were among the most searched on Google. But many adults only learnt of his existence in recent months, despite his influence on young men in the English-speaking world and beyond.

He went viral in December after he launched a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

Tate was born in the United States in 1986 and has US citizenship, according to his website.

But after his parents separated, he grew up with his mother and brother in Luton, an economically depressed town north of London. He has lived in Romania for several years.

Before his rise to fame on social media and subsequent arrest, Tate was a professional kickboxer who gained the title of world champion.

- Multi-millionaire -

He first came to wider attention by appearing as a contestant on the "Big Brother" reality show in the UK in 2016. But he was quickly ejected after a video emerged showing him hitting a woman.

After that he focused on building his online presence.

In August last year, he was banned from social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, for misogynist messages.

His Twitter account was allowed back, however, after Elon Musk bought the company.

Tate founded the so-called Hustler´s University, where he promises to teach paying students "the secrets that ONLY the wealthiest people know".

Tate and his brother Tristan were once "broke as a joke" but are now "self-made multi-millionaires", he writes on his site.

He runs a paid social networking platform called his "war room", whose "mission" he describes as helping "all men to become the very best versions of themselves".

"All men should be strong", he repeatedly states.

However, his comments on women have proved the most controversial.