Ty Warner

H Ty Warner (born September 3, 1944) is a wealthy American toy manufacturer and businessman. He is Chairman, CEO, sole owner and founder of Ty Inc., which manufactures and distributes Beanie Babies, Ty Girlz and a variety of other Ty plush items. In 2005 Forbes estimated his net worth at approximately $4.4 billion - down from a peak of $6 billion - still making him one of the wealthiest people in the world.

Early years

Warner attended Kalamazoo College in Michigan but dropped out after a year and moved to Hollywood to commence a career in acting. He had little success as an actor and returned to Chicago. There he began working for plush toy maker Dakin, where he became an accomplished salesman - employing clever tactics to influence the decisions of buyers in large stores. After nearly two decades at Dakin and a long sabbatical in Italy, Warner returned again to Chicago. He enjoyed living in Chicago much more than anywhere else he had lived.

Ty Inc.

In 1986, Warner mortgaged his home and invested his life savings into founding Ty Inc. Using his extensive contacts in toy retail, Warner was quickly able to realize what would sell and how to sell it. At one Atlanta Toy Fair, he obtained orders for 30,000 toys in one hour. In 1993, Ty Inc. launched Beanie Babies. By 1996, they had become a cult phenomenon delivering Warner tremendous wealth. When the niche collectible became a nationwide fad, Ty became a billionaire. Beanie sales reputedly eased after 2000, although the company is believed to continue to be strongly profitable. At the peak of the Beanie craze, the privately owned Ty Inc. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. In 2007, Ty Inc. went head to head with MGA Entertainment makers of the Bratz with the release of Ty Girlz dolls and virtual world.

Warner's business strategy was novel. He did not spend money on advertising. He selectively limited production of certain Beanie Babies to encourage collectors. He did not distribute Beanies at large department stores to encourage the perception that Beanies were an elite offering. As a result of these strategies, collectors would enthusiastically await and buy up new products with a secondary market emerging where some Beanies sell for hundreds of dollars. At their peak of popularity, some Beanies reached a price of $5000, despite having originally sold for as little as $5 in stores. There have been books published on collecting Beanies and hundreds of websites about Beanies were formed on the internet.

Investments in hotels and resorts

Warner has diversified beyond toys with significant investments in hotels, property and golf courses. Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts include the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, the Sandpiper golf course, the Four Seasons Resort in Santa Barbara, California, the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, the Kona Village resort in Hawaii purchased in July 2004, the Montecito Country Club and the Las Ventanas al Paraiso Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico which was acquired in September 2004. In 2005, Warner added the historic beachfront Miramar resort and Rancho San Marcos golf course to his portfolio. He purchased the Miramar for $45 million. One thing Warner has realized in his resort business is that it pays to get out and "press the flesh" unlike the ultra private manner in which he operates his Beanie Baby empire.

Warner has had disagreements with some of his Montecito neighbors about the Coral Casino, a private oceanfront club which is also part of his Santa Barbara Biltmore property. He wants to open it up to non-members; however, a number of current members oppose that. As a result, there have been delays in the process for approval of the renovation plans that Warner wants to do, according to Jeff Bellamar, an industry consultant. On November 28, 2006, Ty Warner announced he was selling his recently acquired Miramar Hotel property, citing actions by the Montecito Association, that made it too difficult to develop it.

Personal

While he has never been married, Warner is sometimes said to live in a relatively humble home in Oak Brook, Illinois. However, he also owns a lavish blufftop compound in Santa Barbara, California where Forbes says he spent $27 million purchasing an adjacent estate so that a new neighbor couldn't build next to his ever-expanding property. On 30 September 2008, it was reported that Warner purchased the 10,000 square foot penthouse suite on the 140th & 141st floors in the Chicago Spire skyscraper under construction in downtown Chicago for an estimated $40 million, further adding to his real estate holdings.

Philanthropy

Warner is a generous philanthropist, with donations of $6 million to the Andre Agassi Foundation for underprivileged children in Las Vegas and $3 million for the creation of Ty Warner Park in Westmont, IL. He also donated $1.5M for the creation of the Ty Warner Sea Center in Santa Barbara, California. He also gave a gift of one million Beanie Babies for children in Iraq. Warner also recently donated more than $300 million worth of soft toys for a Red Cross blood drive. Additionally, Warner has designed a number of Beanie Babies with the intention of donating all of the profits to charity. Ty Inc.'s charity releases have raised millions for a variety of charities, including the Elizabeth Glasier Pediatriac AIDS Fund, the American Red Cross, and the Princess, Diana of Wales Memorial Fund.

Privacy

Warner rarely grants media interviews and Ty Inc. does not even list its telephone number. Some speculate this is actually designed to increase interest in Beanie Babies as many websites speculate about every aspect of new product announcements and various details of Beanies. Every week, he responds to questions in the Ask Ty section of a Beanies fan site [http://www.aboutbeanies.com/articles/AskTy/askty.html] .

In 1999, Warner opened the books of Ty Inc. to the public, showing that the company had larger sales and profits than Hasbro and Mattel combined, and took out an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal proclaiming Ty Inc. the largest toy business in America.

ee also

*List of billionaires

External links

* [http://www.ty.com Ty, Inc. Corporate Website]
* [http://www.tygirlz.com Ty Girlz Official Site]
* [http://www.aboutbeanies.com AboutBeanies.com Beanie Information Site]
* [http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=RPXV&datatype=Person Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People]
*Elisa Williams, [http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2001/1001/048.html?token=MzAgSnVsIDIwMDcgMjM6Mjg6MjQgKzAwMDA%253D "There Goes the Neighborhood"] , "Forbes", October 1, 2001
* [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/040216/16eeupdate.htm "Ty Warner"] , "U.S. News and World Report", February 8, 2004
* [http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2004_3rd/Sept04_WarnerVentanas.html "Ty Warner Acquires Las Ventanas al Paraiso Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico from Dallas-based JTL Capital, LLC; Rosewood Continues as Operator"] , press release, September 4, 2004
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050717235655/http://www.katscollectables.com/Beanies/TyWarner.htm "Ty Warner"] , "Sunday Telegraph", July 18, 1999
* [http://www.hotelsmag.com/archives/2006/03/gu_warner.asp "Five Minutes With Ty Warner’s Right Hands: Luis Fernandes and Atef Mankarios"] , "Hotels" magazine, March 2005
*Guillaume Doane, [http://www.montecitojournal.net/archive/12/18/304/ "Hotel Owner Battles Against ‘Anti-Ty’ Campaigners"] , "Monticeto Journal", August 31, 2006
*Thomas S. Mulligan, [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002020751_beaniebabybubble31.html "Bubble bursts on Beanie Babies"] , "Los Angeles Times", August 31, 2004