Fashion icon Michael Kors has flirted with billionaire status for over two years, ever since his eponymous company went public in December 2011. But now he has finally arrived. On Tuesday, Michael Kors Holdings shares soared nearly 20% in early trading after spectacular earnings — and the stock surge has put Mr. Kors over the top.
Kors delayed his path to the billionaire ranks by cashing out along the way. While two years ago he had over 15 million shares of Michael Kors stock, today he only owns about 4 million shares in the company he founded. At today’s price those are worth about $360 million. The bulk of his remaining net worth is in investments stemming from the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Michael Kors stock that he sold in the last couple of years.
The longtime Project Runway judge (he quit after Season 10) saw his net worth skyrocket in December 2011, when his fashion house debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, popping 25% in its first day of trading. The 54-year-old started his career by dropping out of the Fashion Institute of Technology to design an in-house line for a store called Lothar’s on 57th Street. He launched his own line of womenswear in 1981 and fought through bankruptcy in the 1990s. Kors declined to comment for this story.
Michael Kors Holdings has already minted two billionaires: Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll. Through their Hong Kong-based private equity shop Sportswear Holdings Limited, the investors purchased a controlling stake in Michael Kors LLC in 2003. Back then the company was only valued at $100 million. Today its market capitalization is north of $18.5 billion, and Chou and Stroll each have a net worth over $2 billion. Not a bad return on their investment.
Kors is only the latest in a wave of new fashion billionaires. In the last two years, names like Tory Burch, Sara Blakely (Spanx), Renzo Rosso (Diesel Jeans), Nicolas Puech (Hermes), Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (Dolce & Gabbana), and the Cassegrain family (Longchamp) have all made the cut. They join the ranks of established fashion moguls like Miuccia Prada, Ralph Lauren, Gerard and Alain Wertheimer (Chanel), and Giorgio Armani.
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