Daymond John

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Daymond John is an American entrepreneur, fashion designer, investor, author, and television personality whose rags-to-riches story stands as one of the most celebrated in American business history. Born Daymond Garfield John on February 23, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York, he was raised in Hollis, Queens, after his parents divorced when he was ten years old. Left as the man of the household, he began working at age ten, handing out flyers at $2 per hour, and participated in a high school cooperative work program that allowed him to alternate between school and full-time employment.

In 1989, at age 20, John started FUBU — an acronym for “For Us, By Us” — out of his mother’s home in Hollis, Queens. His mother, Margot John, taught him how to sew, and after seeing her son’s passion, mortgaged the family home for $100,000 in startup capital. John and three childhood friends — Carl Brown, Keith Perrin, and J. Alexander Martin — built FUBU from hand-sewn ski hats into a full streetwear line by connecting with the hip-hop community at its source. A pivotal moment came when rapper LL Cool J, a childhood friend, wore FUBU clothing in a Gap commercial in 1993, catapulting the brand into the mainstream. FUBU’s worldwide sales would peak at $350 million annually in the late 1990s, and the brand has accumulated over $6 billion in cumulative global sales. FUBU is now exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

In 2009, John was approached by producer Mark Burnett to join the cast of a new ABC reality series called Shark Tank. Initially skeptical, he accepted and has since become “The People’s Shark,” investing more than $8.5 million of his own capital in Shark Tank companies. His most celebrated investment is in Bombas, the sock company built on a one-for-one donation model. When Bombas appeared on the show in Season 6 with just $450,000 in prior sales, John invested $200,000 for a 17.5% stake. The company grew to $12 million in sales following the deal and has since become the best-selling product in Shark Tank history, with over $1.3 billion in cumulative sales as of 2023.

Beyond FUBU and Shark Tank, John founded The Shark Group, a brand management and consulting firm based in Manhattan. He is a brand ambassador for Shopify, a bestselling author of five books including The Power of Broke and Rise & Grind, and was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship by President Barack Obama in 2015. In 2017, John was publicly diagnosed with Stage II thyroid cancer, which he discussed openly to raise awareness about preventive health screenings.

John married Heather Taras in June 2018; he has three daughters: Yasmeen, Destiny, and Minka. As of 2025, Daymond John’s net worth is estimated at approximately $350 million.

Note: Net worth figures are estimates based on publicly available information and may not reflect exact financial positions. This profile was researched and composed with AI assistance and has been reviewed for accuracy.