Timothy Boyle

Timothy Boyle (born 1949) is an American billionaire, and the president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear.[2]

For the former Australian rules football player, see Tim Boyle
Timothy Boyle
Born1949 (age 71–72)
Portland, Oregon, US
NationalityAmerican
EducationJesuit High School
Alma materUniversity of Oregon
OccupationBusinessman
Net worthUS$2.5 billion (November 2019)[1]
TitlePresident and CEO, Columbia Sportswear
Term1988-
Spouse(s)Mary Boyle
Children2
Parent(s)Gert Lamfromm Boyle
Joseph Cornelius "Neal" Boyle

Early life

Boyle was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.[3] He is one of three children of Joseph Cornelius "Neal" Boyle, an Irish Catholic, and Gertrude Lammfromm.[4] His mother was Jewish and fled as a teenager from Nazi Germany. She immigrated to Portland, Oregon,[5] and converted to Catholicism after marrying her husband.[5] He has two sisters: Kathy Boyle (born 1952) and Sally Boyle (born 1958).[4]

His grandfather purchased the Rosenfeld Hat Company[4] and changed its name to the Columbia Hat Company[6] (after the river).[4] His father became president of Columbia Hat after his grandfather died and then diversified the hat business into outerwear[4] for hunters, fishermen, and skiers.[5] In 1960, his mother designed the first fishing vest (his father was an avid fisherman) and the name of the company was changed to Columbia Sportswear.[6]

Boyle was educated at Jesuit High School, in Beaverton, Oregon, just outside Portland, followed by the University of Oregon, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1971.[7]

Career

Boyle was still at university when his father died in 1970[8] at the age of 47. He left to join his mother, who had become president of Columbia Hat, which was then earning $800,000 in annual sales and had 40 employees.[4] The company struggled and teetered on bankruptcy[9] until in the 1970s when Boyle and his mother refocused the business on outdoor clothing and casual wear which paralleled a general trend away from formal work attire.[10] In 1975, they were the first company to introduce Gore-Tex parkas.[6]

In 1986, Columbia released the Bugaboo, a jacket with a zip out lining which became quite trendy and further propelled the company's growth.[4] Columbia was unique among specialty clothing manufacturers in that it would sell its products to any retail shop or chain.[5] In 1987, Columbia had $18.8 million in sales and by 1997 it had grown to $353.5 million.[5] Boyle took over from his mother, Gert, as company president in 1988.[11][12]

The company went public in 1998.[10] In the early 2010s, Boyle refocused Columbia away from top line products and more towards the mid-range, moderately priced products; he also continued to align sales with changes happening in the retail industry, shifting the company more toward internet sales.[2]

Columbia grew into a $6.5bn public company,[13] and Boyle's 41% ownership interest in Columbia Sportswear was worth over $1.0 billion in 2013.[2]

In 2020, Forbes ranked Boyle No. 378 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.[14]

Personal life

Boyle and his wife Mary have a son, educated at Drake University in Des Moines, and a daughter, educated at the University of Washington.[15] They live in Portland, Oregon.[1]

In 2007, he and his wife Mary donated $5 million to the University of Oregon.[16] In 2016, he donated $10 million to the University's aquatic animal care facility.[17] More recently the couple donated $10 million towards a biomedical data science initiative.[18] In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Boyle reduced his own salary to $10,000 while maintaining the full salary and benefits of all his company's retail employees.[19]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Timothy Boyle". Forbes. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  2. Forbes: "Columbia Sportswear Thrives, Lifting CEO Tim Boyle To Billionaire Ranks" by Kathryn Dill November 8, 2013
  3. "Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle Buys Gearhart Golf Links". The A Position. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  4. Whitford, David; Gert Boyle (September 1, 2003). "Gert Boyle Columbia Sportswear Co". Fortune Small Business. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  5. Immigrant Entrepreneurship: "Gertrude Boyle" retrieved November 9, 2013
  6. "History". About Us. Columbia Sportswear. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  7. "Columbia:Officers and Directors". Columbia. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  8. Oregon Business: "Tim Boyle charts the future as Columbia Sportswear turns 75" by Linda Baker January 28, 2013
  9. Harriet Shapiro; Diane S. Lund (September 18, 1989). "Gert Boyle Has a Vested Interest in George Bush's Fishing Fortunes". People. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  10. Boyle, Gert (April 1, 2006). "How I Did It: Gert Boyle, chairman, Columbia Sportswear". Inc. magazine. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  11. Oregonian/OregonLive, Steve Duin | For The (2019-11-03). "Gert Boyle, 'One Tough Mother' who led Columbia Sportswear, dies at 95". oregonlive. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  12. Palmieri, Jean E.; Palmieri, Jean E. (2020-01-27). "Tim Boyle Named Chairman of Columbia Sportswear". WWD. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  13. Read, Richard (2018-11-29). "Tim Boyle of Columbia Sportswear on US immigration policy: 'I think it's just a travesty what's happening'". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  14. www.forbes.com https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/. Retrieved 2020-09-25. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "Tim Boyle: CEO Columbia Sportswear". Portland Interview Magazine. October 2, 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  16. Business Wire: "Columbia Sportswear Tim Boyle, Wife Donate $5 Million to University of Oregon" April 13, 2007
  17. Katu: "Columbia Sportswear CEO donates $10 million to University of Oregon" February 28, 2016
  18. "Couple gives $10 million to support biomedical data science". Around the O. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  19. Oregonian/OregonLive, Samantha Swindler | The; Oregonian/OregonLive, Jeff Manning | The (2020-03-28). "Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle cuts own salary to $10K, retail employees receive regular pay". oregonlive. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.