J. Christopher Burch

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J. Christopher Burch
Chris Burch photo.jpg
Burch in 2012
Born (1953-03-28) March 28, 1953 (age 72)
Alma mater Ithaca College
Occupation(s)Founder, Burch Creative Capital
Known forFashion industry businessman
Spouses
Susan Cole
(m. 1982,divorced)
(m. 1996;div. 2006)
Children6

J. Christopher Burch (born March 28, 1953) is an American businessman, founder and CEO of Burch Creative Capital, [1] [2] [3] and co-founder of Tory Burch LLC.

Contents

Early life

Burch was raised in Wayne, Pennsylvania. [4] [5] His mother, Robin Sinkler, [6] [7] was from a Philadelphia Main Line family and his father, John Walter Burch, owned a mining equipment and supplies company. [8] Burch attended Tilton School, an independent prep school in Tilton, New Hampshire. He graduated from Tilton in 1972, and then attended Ithaca College.

Career

Fashion industry

In 1976, while an undergraduate at Ithaca, Burch and his brother Robert started Eagle Eye apparel with a $2,000 investment, buying sweaters for $10 and selling them for $15. [9] [10] They produced a brand of "preppy" sweaters which were sold door-to-door on campus. The operation soon expanded to other campuses, and, eventually, to retail stores. [11] Over the next decade, the company expanded to $140 million in sales [9] and a national distribution footprint, including more than 50 of its own retail stores. The company was partially sold to Swire Group, in 1989, and entirely in 1998, in a deal that valued the brand at $60 million. [12]

In 2004, Burch helped his then-wife launch the Tory Burch fashion label, [13] and served as co-Chairman of the company. [14] [15] He also owned 28.3%, selling half of his shares in December 2012, [16] when the company was estimated to be worth $3.5 billion. [17] In 2008, he established J. Christopher Capital LLC, later renamed Burch Creative Capital. [13] In 2011, he launched C. Wonder, an apparel, accessories and home decor retailer. The launch of this company sparked a bitter and highly-publicized legal battle with Tory Burch; the matter was settled out of court in 2012. [18] In 2015, C. Wonder filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores; soon afterward, the brand was sold to Xcel Brands. [19]

Real estate

In 2004, Burch partnered with architect Philippe Starck and hotelier Alan Faena to develop the Faena Hotel+Universe in Buenos Aires. The investment into the building, which was built in 1902 as a grain storage facility, was in excess of $100 million. [20]

In 2006, Burch founded J.B. Christopher, a supplier of construction materials to real estate developers. [21] In 2011, Burch and his partner Austin Hearst completed a $19 million luxury home development in Nantucket. [22]

In 2013, in a partnership with James McBride, Burch acquired the Nihiwatu resort on the Indonesian island of Sumba. [23] In 2015, after a $30 million investment, the pair opened the resort under the name NIHI. [24]

Other investments

In 1993, Burch was a producer for the feature-length romantic comedy film Watch It. [25] He was an early investor in the IPO for Internet Capital Group, [13] and invested in Aliph Technologies, Powermat, and Poppin. [26] [11] [27] In 2014, he led the investment in BaubleBar; [28] that year he also partnered with Ellen DeGeneres to launch her lifestyles collection, ED by Ellen. [29]

He has also been involved with the brands Staud, Voss, Win Brands, Rappi, Danielle Guizio, Solid & Striped, Urbanic, Thursday Boots, SuperOrdinary, Barber Surgeon Guild, and Jawbone [13] [30]

Personal life

In 1982, Burch married Susan Cole. [8] They had three daughters and divorced at an unknown date.

In 1996, he married the fashion designer Tory Robinson [5] [31] [32] with whom he had three sons. [4] They divorced in 2006. [33]

Burch is a past president of The Pierre Hotel Co-op Board, [34] and a past board member of Guggenheim Partners, and The Continuum Group.[ citation needed ]

From 1982 to 1985, Burch sat on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Tilton School. In 2013, Burch donated $1.3 million to the school. [35]

References

  1. Luxury Daily: "Tory Burch cofounder: Tailoring in-store experience vital for brands" by Tricia Carr May 2, 2012
  2. Young, Vicki M. (1 August 2013). "Burch Creative Capital's Coolcore Files Lawsuit". WWD. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  3. Burch Creative Capital website
  4. 1 2 Vanity Fair: "An Empire of Her Own" By Michael Shnayerson February 2007
  5. 1 2 Vanity Fair: "Tory Burch's Ex Factor" By Vanessa Grigoriadis December 2012
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer: "John W. Burch, 82, veteran and athlete" By Gayle Ronan Sims October 03, 2007
  7. Main Line Media News March 7, 2012
  8. 1 2 New York Times: "Susan Cole Is Married" August 29, 1982
  9. 1 2 Ithaca College: "The School of Business Starts Business Idea Competition Entrepreneur and Ithaca alum Chris Burch '76 is giving students the opportunity to develop their own businesses" retrieved January 5, 2013
  10. Jan Schaffer (July 24, 1983). "Forces behind Eagle's Eye". Boca Raton News . Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  11. 1 2 Keith Albow (April 19, 2012). "Did ADD help Chris Burch in billion-dollar company success?". Fox News . Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  12. Josh Patner (October 3, 2004). "Don't Call Her Socialite". New York Times .
  13. 1 2 3 4 Richard Collings (June 15, 2012). "A Q&A with J. Christopher Burch: On startups and style". The Deal Magazine. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  14. "As Chris Burch Seeks Tory Burch's Ouster at Her Own Brand, Diane von Furstenberg and Anna Wintour Condemn His "Nasty . . . Sabotaging" and Absenteeism". Vanity Fair. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  15. Ashley Lutz (January 3, 2013). "How Tory Burch Became A Fashion Billionaire In Less Than A Decade". Business Insider. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  16. Patricia Sellers (January 22, 2013). "Tory Burch talks about choosing great investors". CNN. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  17. Ashley Lutz (January 9, 2013). "Tory Burch's Ex-Husband Disses Her Right After The End Of Their Bitter Lawsuit". Business Insider. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  18. Eric Wilson (January 1, 2013). "Agreement Announced in Tory Burch Case". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  19. Vicki M. Young (Aug 5, 2015). "Brad Goreski Named Creative Director of C. Wonder". Women's Wear Daily . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  20. Adriana Schettini (December 5, 2004). "Alan Faena: el duque en sus dominios". La Nación . Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  21. Daria Meoli (October 2, 2012). "An Entrepreneurial Addiction: An Interview with Christopher Burch". NY Reporter. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  22. "House of the Day: Nantucket Retreat". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  23. "Indonesian Resort Nihiwatu Announces New Ownership". Luxury Travel Advisor. March 20, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  24. Mary Hanbury (July 25, 2017). "Take a Tour of the World's Best Hotel, A 5-Star Resort Built by Fashion Mogul Chris Burch on a Remote Indonesian Island". Business Insider.
  25. Vincent Canby (March 26, 1993). "Watch It (1993): Review/Film". New York Times . Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  26. Cotten Timberlake (February 10, 2010). "Tory Burch's Plan to Open 100 Stores Is No 'Vanity Project'". Bloomberg . Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  27. Seth Lubove (February 15, 2013). "Chris Burch Becomes a Billionaire as Fashion Stock Surge". Bloomberg News . Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  28. Michael J. De La Merced (July 29, 2014). "BaubleBar, an Upstart Jewelry Seller, Raises $10 Million". New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  29. Emily Wick (July 8, 2014). "Ellen DeGeneres wants to furnish your living room with new lifestyle collection". Today Show. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  30. "Burch Creative Capital". Burch Creative Capital. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  31. The Fortune Hunters: Dazzling Women and the Men They Married By Charlotte Hays p. 167
  32. New York Times Dealbook: "In Unusual Move, Delaware Supreme Court Rebukes a Judge" By PETER LATTMAN November 9, 2012
  33. Girigoriadis, Vanessa (November 14, 2012). "TORY BURCH'S EX FACTOR". Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  34. Alexei Barrionuevo (August 23, 2012). "The Most Pampering, the Highest Fees". New York Times . Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  35. "NH school alumnus gives $1.3M gift". Boston Globe . Associated Press. April 10, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2013.