Jim Davis (businessman)

James S. Davis (born 1943) is an American billionaire businessman, the owner and chairman of New Balance, and an early investor in Major League Lacrosse.[1][2]

Jim Davis
Born
James S. Davis

(1943-05-17) 17 May 1943
Brookline, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
EducationWorcester Academy
Alma materMiddlebury College
OccupationBusinessman
Known forOwner & chairman of New Balance; co-founder of Major League Lacrosse
Children2

Early life

James S. Davis was born in 1943[1] in Brookline, Massachusetts,[3] the son of Greek immigrants.[4] He attended the Worcester Academy, and he received a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Middlebury College in 1966.[5] While in college, he played college football.[2][5]

Career

Davis started his career as a sales engineer at the LFE Corporation in Waltham, Massachusetts, and as marketing manager for the Applied Geodata Systems Division of Techven Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1972, he bought New Balance, then only a 6-employee firm in Boston, and turned it into a 4,000-employee global corporation with revenues averaging around $2.5 billion every year.[1] He has been a board member of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, the International Athletic Footwear & Apparel Manufacturers Association, and the Two/Ten Foundation.[6] He also sits on the board of directors of the Citizen's Bank in Providence, Rhode Island.[6]

He has donated $5 million to the University of Maine.[1] He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from his alma mater, Middlebury College.[1] A library on its campus has also been named for him.[5] He formerly sat on its board of trustees, on the Worcester Academy's, and on Newbury College's.[7] He sits on the board of trustees of the Sports Museum of New England and formerly Boston Children's Museum.[8]

As of 2017, Davis is the 324th richest person in the world, and the 94th richest in the United States, with an estimated wealth of US$5.1 billion.[1]

Personal life

Davis is married, and has two children.[1] He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.[1]

Politics

Davis has donated $500,000 to Mitt Romney's Super PAC, Restore Our Future.[9][10]

Davis donated almost $400,000 to the Trump Victory Committee in September 2016.[11] In an interview given to Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Germano on the day following the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, a New Balance senior executive suggested support for Trump due to his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Widely reported social-media reaction documented numerous New Balance owners destroying or disposing of their shoes—with many pledging lifetime boycotts of the company.[12][13][14]

In 2021, Davis gave $495,000 to a super PAC supporting Boston mayoral candidate Annissa Essaibi George, who won second place in the preliminary election in September, enough to advance to the general election.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Jim Davis & family". Forbes. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. Fonda, Daren (November 1, 2004). "Sole Survivor". Time Magazine.
  3. "TNH's 50 Wealthiest Greek-Americans 2017 List". The National Herald. 8 March 2017.
  4. The Pappas Post: "Son of Greek immigrant leads New Balance to major expansion" Archived 2012-09-11 at the Wayback Machine April 3, 2012
  5. Sarah C. Ray, 'Library named for Jim Davis '66 and his family', May 7, 2010
  6. Major League Lacrosse Founders Archived 2010-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Middlebury College Board of Trustees". middlebury.edu.
  8. "Leadership / Board - About - Boston Children's Museum". www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org.
  9. Dan Eggen, 'New Balance distances itself from donation to Romney supporting ‘super PAC’', in The Washington Post,
  10. Glen Johnson, 'New Balance disavows chairman’s Romney donation', on Boston.com, 08/10/2011
  11. O'Sullivan, Jim (13 January 2017). "New Balance founder gave nearly $400,000 to Trump". Boston Globe. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  12. Germano, Sara (2016-11-11). "New Balance Faces Social Media Backlash After Welcoming Trump". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  13. "People are trashing New Balance sneakers after the company's apparent pro-Trump comments". Boston.com. 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  14. "This is why people are lighting their New Balance shoes on fire". NBC News. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  15. Shirley Leung (September 15, 2021). "New Balance chairman Jim Davis bet $495,000 on Annissa Essaibi George. Tuesday, it paid off". The Boston Globe.
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