Daymond John Biography
A native of Brooklyn, New York City, Daymond John is an American businessman, investor, author, motivational speaker, and TV personality.
John is best known as the founder, president, and CEO of FUBU and is also the founder of The Shark Group.
Daymond John Age
John is 51 years old as of 2020. He was born on February 23, 1969.
Daymond John Parents
John grew up in the Queens neighborhood of Hollis. His parents divorced when he was 10 years old and that was when he began working.
He had an early job which entailed handing out flyers for $2 an hour.
Daymond John Wife
John is married to Heather Taras. He and his wife got married in 2018. Heather is his second wife. He was previously married and had two children from the first marriage.
Daymond John Children
John has three children altogether; all daughters. He had two daughters from his first marriage named Destiny and Yasmeen and the last born from his marriage to Heather, named Minka Jagger.
Daymond John FUBU
John is the founder of FUBU, a clothing company for young men. He started FUBU in his mother’s house in Hollis, Queens where his mother taught him how to sew and supported him by letting him run the business from the house.
He started off by selling wool ski hats which were popular then in 1992 and he together with his neighbor made $800 in a single day.
They went on to sell screen-printed T-shirts and in order to break into the market, they sold on consignment and at large events around the Northeast. At the time, John was still working a full-time job at Red Lobster.
John and his mother eventually mortgaged their house for $100,000 to generate start-up capital after sensing potential in the business. He went and recruited his friends Brown, J. Alexander Martin, and Keith Perrin into the business. They began sewing the FUBU logo onto hockey jerseys, sweatshirts, and T-shirts.
He and his friends opened about 10 of the hockey jerseys out to rappers for their music videos for 2 years and got product placements in about 30 videos. Eventually, stores began requesting their brand.
In 1993, John convinced LL Cool J, an old neighborhood friend, to wear a FUBU T-shirt for a promotional campaign. While filming a 30-second advertising spot for The Gap, LL Cool J wore a FUBU hat in the commercial. He also incorporated the line “for us, by us” in his rapping.
In 1994 John received $300,000 in orders and also an offer for participating in Macy’s (M) at a Las Vegas fashion trade show, MAGIC. They even had to take out a second mortgage on his mother’s house in order to fulfill the orders.
Having been turned down by 27 banks for a loan, John’s mother used the last of their money to take out an advertisement in the NY Times.
Due to this ad, FUBU made a deal with Samsung Textiles, allowing them to complete their orders.
The company has earned over $6 billion in global sales and is featured at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture.
Daymond John Shark Tank
John Joined Shark Tank in 2009 after he received a call from Mark Burnett asking him to join the cast. Shark Tank is ABC’s reality business show. It gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their businesses to investors, or “Sharks” in the hopes of receiving an investment.
As of 2017, John had invested $8,567,000 of his own money in Shark Tank companies. One of his favorite investments on record was Al “Bubba” Baker’s boneless ribs and Bombas socks.
John invested in Bubba’s-Q Boneless Ribs on Season 5 of Shark Tank. He helped grow the company from $154,000 in sales to $16 million in 3 years. Bubba’s-Q Boneless Ribs partnered up with Carl’s Jr. in 2017, to create the limited-edition Baby Back Rib Burger.
Also after his investment in Bombas Socks on Season 6 of Shark Tank, total sales for the company increased from $450,000 in the first nine months to $12 million.
Daymond John Moziah “Mo” Bridges
During the fifth season of Shark Tank, John made a unique deal with 15-year-old Moziah “Mo” Bridges. Moziah is the owner of Mo’s Bows.
He did not incest in Mo’s Bows business but he, however, decided to mentor the young entrepreneur. Mo’s Bows has recently agreed to a seven-figure licensing partnership with the NBA to create bow ties that use the teams’ logos.
Daymond John The Shark Group
John is the founder and CEO of the brand management and consulting firm, The Shark Group. Its office is located in Manhattan, New York.
Daymond John Net Worth
As of 2020, John has a net worth of $300 million.