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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 469 Wu Yajun|# 471 Liu Hanyuan ➡

# 470 Ty Warner 

$6.29B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$9.2M (0.15%)

# 470 Ty Warner 

$6.29B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$9.2M (0.15%)
OccupationCofounder, CEO and Owner, Ty
Source of WealthPlush Toys, Real Estate
Age79
ResidenceOak Brook, Illinois
Marital StatusSingle
EducationDrop Out, Kalamazoo College
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$1.74B
Ty Warner
Ty Warner
United States
Net worth: $6.29B

Self-Made Score 

Wealth History

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Biography

Early Life

H. Ty Warner was born on September 3, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois, growing up in suburban La Grange.
He attended Lyons Township High School and later St. John's Military Academy, graduating in 1962.
Warner's parents were Harold 'Hal' Warner, a jeweler and toy salesman, and Georgia Warner, a pianist.
His strained relationships with his parents included his mother's erratic behavior and diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
After a brief stint at Kalamazoo College, Warner dropped out and eventually returned to Chicago.

Career Beginnings

After attempting a career in acting in Los Angeles, Warner joined plush toy maker Dakin as a salesman, following his father's footsteps.
In 1980, he was fired by Dakin for reportedly selling his own products in competition with the company's line.
He founded Ty Inc. in 1986, investing his life savings and a bequest from his father.
Initially selling stuffed toy cats inspired by Italian plush, he later launched Beanie Babies in 1993.

Beanie Baby Craze

Beanie Babies became a phenomenon, with Warner's strategy of selling to small independent toy stores instead of large retailers like Toys R Us.
He drove up demand by restricting items shipped to each store and creating deliberate shortages.
At its peak, Ty Inc. earned over $700 million in profits annually from Beanie Babies.
The rise of the Internet further fueled Beanie Baby popularity and elevated Warner to billionaire status.
Ty Inc. launched one of the first business-to-consumer websites, contributing to Beanie Babies' rapid growth.

Business Expansion

Using profits from Beanie Babies, Warner diversified into high-end hotels, acquiring properties like the Four Seasons in New York.
He expanded his hotel investments to include resorts in Mexico, Hawaii, and California.
Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts portfolio includes luxury properties like Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Mexico and the San Ysidro Ranch in California.
Warner also invested in golf courses, notably the Sandpiper Golf Course in Santa Barbara.
Ty Inc. ventured into other products, including Ty Girlz dolls and virtual worlds, challenging competitors like MGA Entertainment.

Philanthropy

Warner donated over $100 million in cash and toys to the Children's Hunger Fund since 2005.
He supported various causes, including underprivileged children, cancer research, and disaster relief efforts.
Charity releases of Beanie Babies raised millions for organizations like the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the American Red Cross.
In 2006, he received the Children's Champion Award for his philanthropic efforts.
Warner's acts of personal generosity included assisting individuals in need, like funding medical procedures and donating to stem cell research.

Legal Issues

In 2014, Warner was convicted of tax evasion for maintaining a secret offshore account, concealing millions from the IRS.
He paid a substantial fine and received two years of probation and community service, avoiding jail time.
Warner's legal defense utilized the 'Olenicoff Defense,' citing precedents of leniency in similar tax evasion cases.
Despite the conviction, Warner continued his philanthropic activities and business endeavors.

Personal Life

Warner never married and has no children, maintaining a low public profile.
Long-term girlfriends Patricia Roche and Faith McGowan were involved in Ty Inc.'s operations during the Beanie Baby era.
He rarely grants media interviews or discloses personal or company information.
Warner's personal life has been the subject of limited public scrutiny and speculation.
Despite controversies, Warner's contributions to both business and philanthropy have left a lasting legacy.

How long would it take you to become as rich as Ty Warner?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 44.11% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach Ty Warner's net worth of $6.29B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 52.22% compared to 16.62% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

Enter data in all but one field below, then calculate the missing value

Ty Warner is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For Ty Warner, Plush Toys and Real Estate are the primary sources. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Edited by: Lee Bailey