The Beanie Babies phenomenon, coupled with the rise of the Internet, is cited as elevating Warner to billionaire status with a net worth of over $2.5 billion. is believed to have earned over $700 million in profits in a year. At the peak of the Beanie craze circa 1999, the privately owned Ty Inc. A secondary market developed when collectors began reselling the toys at greatly inflated prices, and various books, magazines, and accessories like carrying cases devoted to Beanie Babies appeared. He drove up demand by artificially restricting items shipped to each store below requested orders, and by creating deliberate shortages by discontinuing old items and introducing new ones in an essentially arbitrary manner rather than the more common toy industry pattern of releasing new items once or twice a year. He focused on selling the $5 or $10 Beanie Babies to small independent toy stores rather than large retailers like Toys R Us, Target, or Walmart, preferring to have multiple small clients rather than a handful of large ones. launched Beanie Babies, a series of small plush toys shaped like various animals. Warner started out selling stuffed toy cats (inspired by some plush he had seen in Italy). In 1986, he mortgaged his home and invested his life savings and a bequest from his father into founding Ty Inc. After spending a three-year sabbatical in Italy, Warner returned to Chicago. In 1980, he was fired by Dakin, reportedly for selling his own products to established customers in competition with the company's line. He was described by a former co-worker as possessing "uncanny" instincts as a salesman to retail shops, knowing which items would be most successful. There he began working for plush toy maker Dakin as a salesman, the same company where his father worked. He had little success and returned to Chicago after five years. Warner moved to Los Angeles to start a career in acting. When Ty was an adult and his parents divorced, he was said to have attempted to seduce several of his father's girlfriends out of jealousy or competitiveness. Georgia was noted for erratic and sometimes abusive or dangerous behavior and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in the 1970s. Warner's relationships with both parents were strained. Warner attended Kalamazoo College in Michigan but dropped out after a year. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, and graduated in 1962. He was named after baseball player Ty Cobb.Īt the age of 14, Warner went to Lyons Township High School (north campus) in La Grange, Illinois. His mother was Georgia Warner, a pianist. His father was Harold "Hal" Warner, a jeweler and toy salesman. Warner was born on September 3, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in suburban La Grange, in a Prairie-style house designed in the early 1890s by Frank Lloyd Wright, now known as the Peter Goan House. 359 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America, with a net worth of US$2.3 billion. He is also the owner of Four Seasons Hotel New York, which he bought with profits earned selling Beanie Babies during a fad in the late 1990s. which manufactures and distributes stuffed toys, including Beanie Babies and other lines. He is the CEO, sole owner and co-founder of Ty Inc. Ty Warner (born September 3, 1944) is an American billionaire toy manufacturer, businessman, and convicted felon.
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