Sunday, May 26, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013

Tory Burch becomes a billionaire

And just like that, Tory Burch becomes a billionaire.

24 comments

Tory Burch becomes a billionaire

POSTED: Friday, January 4, 2013, 11:35 AM
Tory Burch hangs with Kanye at her 2009 show. Fashion industry insiders and stars alike rushed to support Burch after her ex-husband Chris Burch launched his C. Wonder line. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

And just like that, Tory Burch is a billionaire.

The Valley Forge native and Penn grad has amassed enough of an empire to become the latest fashion tycoon to land on the 2013 Forbes World's Billionaires list, which will be released in March says the publication. 46-year-old Burch is the second to youngest, female, self-made billionaire, after Spanx founder Sara Blakely, who in 2012 made the list at 41. Blakely opened her first three standalone Spanx retail locations last year, including a store in King of Prussia Mall. Both Blakely and Burch have seen their products land on the "Favorite Things" list of another self-made billionaire woman: Oprah.

Tory's newfound billionaire status follows the Jan. 1 announcement that a settlement agreement was reached between the designer and her ex-husband Chris Burch. After months of lawsuits, counterclaims, nasty remarks and a very bitter, public battle between the two Burches, Chris sold part of his 28.3% stake in the brand to two minority investors this week. Forbes calculates that Tory Burch LLC is valued at least $3.5 billion, which means Tory's stake in her company is estimated at approximately $1 billion.

Armies of women have pledged their allegiance to the Tory Burch brand, in part due to the overwhelming success of her $195 Reva ballet flat, a staple footwear item in the shoe closets of chic urban dwellers worldwide. Since the Reva (named after Tory's mother) flat's debut in 2006, the double-crossed "T" logo has extended its hold on boho chic women everywhere - the emblem stamped across soft leather handbags, cuffs, belts and eyewear as a uniform symbol for the "ladies who lunch." In 2008, Burch told Town & Country that much of her company's astounding growth and success was based off this concept: "Luxury, as I see it, is not exclusionary." In 2012 alone, Tory Burch LLC boasted close to $800 million in revenue. It's expected that Burch and her board will go public this year, which would solidify that 2013 is indeed, the year of Tory.

More from Forbes


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24 comments
Comments  (24)
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:19 PM, 01/04/2013
    She didn't do it....Obama did it for her
    Taxpaying Voter
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:07 PM, 01/04/2013
    ounds like her rich ex-husband had a lot to do with it.
    mike l
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:10 PM, 01/04/2013
    Malachy. He is doing all of us. Some of us just are aware of it. How's the hopey changy working out for you?
    Notyranny
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:15 PM, 01/04/2013
    Notyranny - working oug great for me. Nice!, quoting sarah palin. What a genius! Just what exactly, oh great deep thinker, is Obama doing to us? You need to turn off faux news and the vulgar pigboy, over turnthat rock your hiding under and get out into the real world. Folks like you are a dying breed, the sooner the better for the rest of us.
    Malachy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:15 PM, 01/04/2013
    She looks OK, anybody got her phone number? I'll give her a call.
    FairmountFrank
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:24 PM, 01/04/2013
    This proves that Art History majors can find good paying jobs. But she's probably not paying her fair share.
    A Friend
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:24 PM, 01/04/2013
    Yea, Frank, I am SURE she'd just be waiting for that call to come. How could she not!
    hvitoloco
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:26 PM, 01/04/2013
    Good for her. Congrats. Wharton grad?
    maureenr
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:33 PM, 01/04/2013
    hvitoloco - What are you in the 3rd grade? My IQ might only be 64, but i guarantee you that it's twice as high as your's.
    Malachy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:43 PM, 01/04/2013
    masterbaiter - like I have said before, you pointing fingers about the quality of comments is hilarious. The fact you even commented on mine shows that maybe you and your boy malachy would be perfect together. Now get back to the grill, girly. Customers are waiting, DB.

    Malarchy - Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing after your sophomoric comment. You are TRULY lacking. And getting your GED doesn't mean you have twice the IQ of ANYONE. Guys like you get paid to cut my lawn and rake leaves, not post on here. Just sayin.....
    hvitoloco
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:58 PM, 01/04/2013
    hvitoloco - Thank you for making my and masterncommander's point. You sir, truly posses a giant intellect. Too funny.
    Malachy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:02 PM, 01/04/2013
    Malachy - on the contrary, you and your alter ego proved my point. You 2 clowns reinforced the notion that when you stop taking your meds, the results are predictable. Didn't your mom ever tell you NOt to bring a knife to a gunfight??? Too easy! (nice try though, little guy)
    hvitoloco
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:08 PM, 01/04/2013
    Malarchy - to quote you, 'You sir, truly posses a giant intellect'. Pratice English much??? And you were talking about having twice the IQ of myself! Comical! You can't make this stuff up!
    hvitoloco
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:40 AM, 01/05/2013
    If she wants a younger guy these days, she can always call me.
    Northeaster
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:45 AM, 01/05/2013
    quit the bickering boys, can we all agree we'd bang her then go out spend some her cashhhzzzz!
    Gray Areas
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:21 AM, 01/06/2013
    i'd take her out to lunch.
    Tyrone Biggums
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:22 AM, 01/06/2013
    Kanye looks like Cap N' Crunch.
    Tyrone Biggums
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:39 AM, 01/06/2013
    thankfully my wife doesnt go for $195 shoes.
    jim715
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:03 PM, 03/08/2013
    I am happy for her, but I see the usual hangers-on swooped in as soon as they realized she was becoming a major playa'. Well, I hope she sees through their line of rap.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:03 AM, 03/09/2013
    If I had to do it all over again, I would have shopped in discount stores and built up my bank account. Silly young women.
    Fran1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:10 PM, 03/19/2013
    The products these billionaire club women produce — shoes, handbags, spanks, TV talk shows — are frivolous commodities to society with little or no long-term or intrinsic value. They simply don't compare to the innovative, life-chaning tech products of a Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or George Lucas whose inventions and productions change lives and spin-off hundreds of different manufacturing, software, and business opportunities.

    All these women have to show for their billions is superficial clothing or superficial conversation.

    As for Burch's battlecry mission statement of "Luxury, as I see it, is not exclusionary"...give me a frickin break. It may as well be, "Women who are fat, poor, and ugly can also be thin, rich, and sexy."

    Uh, no they can't.
    URANIUM235
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:54 AM, 03/21/2013
    Gosnell abortion-murder trial focuses on jars of preserved fetus feet
    TimmyDay
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:27 AM, 04/26/2013
    anybody can get rich, this proves it.
    sgamble077
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:47 PM, 05/01/2013
    obama needs to ban flats
    raynesrock


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