Warner, Ty (1944-…), is a wealthy American businessman and philanthropist who became one of the most successful toy manufacturers in the world. He is best known as the creator of the popular Beanie Babies plush toys.
Harold Ty Warner was born in Chicago on Sept. 3, 1944. He grew up in LaGrange, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His father was a jeweler and toy salesman. Ty Warner studied drama at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. He left college and moved to Hollywood, California, with hopes of becoming an actor. Instead, he worked at a gas station and a grocery store and sold cameras door-to-door.
In 1962, Warner became a salesman for Dakin, a San Francisco-based toy company for which his father worked. Ty Warner sold plush animals and became known for his inventive way of capturing the attention of buyers. He arrived at his sales appointments in a Rolls-Royce convertible, wearing a fur coat and top hat and carrying a walking cane. He remained with Dakin for 18 years, becoming one of the best sales representatives in the company’s history.
Warner left Dakin in 1980. He traveled to Italy, where he became inspired by the different varieties of stuffed cat toys sold there. He returned to Illinois and started his own line of stuffed toys. He founded the Ty, Inc., toy manufacturing company in 1986 from his home, later moving the company’s headquarters to a small office. His first line of plush toys were of Himalayan cats named Smokey, Ginger, Peaches, and Angel. They sold for $20 each. But Warner wanted to create an inexpensive toy that children could buy with their own money and carry around in a pocket or backpack. He introduced the original Beanie Babies in 1993 and began selling them in small retail stores in 1994. The plush toys, filled with plastic “bean” pellets, appealed especially to young children, and their modest $5 price appealed to adults.
In 1997, Warner partnered with McDonald’s to include Teenie Beanie Babies in the restaurant chain’s Happy Meal promotions for children. McDonald’s eventually introduced the small plush toy around the world. Beanie Babies quickly became the most publicized and sought after toy in American history. They also became collectors’ items . Warner released some of the animals in limited quantities and “retired” (stopped producing) others, causing them to soar in value. At the height of the craze, rare Beanie Babies were bought and sold for as much as $5,000. When the Beanie Baby frenzy diminished in 1999, Warner turned to real estate. He bought several luxury hotels and a golf course.
In 2013, Warner, a reclusive billionaire, pleaded guilty to a charge of tax evasion for hiding millions of dollars in a Swiss bank account. He agreed to pay a $53-million fine. Warner continued in his role as chairman and president of Ty, Inc.
