James Jannard

About James Jannard

Birth Year: 1949
Birth Place: San Juan Islands, Washington, United States
Residence: San Juan Islands, Washington
Alma mater: University of Southern California (dropped out)
Occupation: Businessman
Known for: founder of Oakley, Inc. founder of Red Digital Cinema Camera Company

James Jannard

James Jannard was born on 1949 in San Juan Islands, Washington, United States. Jim Jannard founded sunglasses empire Oakley out of his car in 1975. His first product was a motorcycle grip that wicked sweat during long rides. It went public in 1995 and sold to Luxottica for $2.1 billion in 2007. By then he was working on his next project, Red Digital, building high-resolution cameras that have shot movies like Avatar and The Hobbit. Now he's building the world's first holographic smartphone, which, he says, has the best mobile camera on the market and will be available in 2018.
James Jannard is a member of Fashion and Retail

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Biography/Timeline

1975

Jannard was born in Los Angeles but was raised in Alhambra, California, the son of a pharmacist, and graduated from Alhambra High School. Jannard was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jannard attended the USC School of Pharmacy but dropped out to travel the southwestern U.S. on a motorcycle. In 1975, he started a one-man Business selling motorcycle parts out of his car at motocross events. He named his company after his dog, Oakley. He began developing his own products: first, custom handlebar grips that conformed to the shape of one's hand and later motorcycle goggles, ski goggles, and sunglasses. One model of sunglasses was used by bicycle racer Greg LeMond, raising Oakley's profile. In the 1980s, he restricted the sale of Oakley sunglasses to the Sunglass Hut (although small specialty shops could continue to sell Oakley sunglasses). In 1991, his company had 200 employees. In 1995, the company went public.

1999

Jannard owns the Fiji islands of Kaibu and Vatu Vara. He also owns a 500-acre island in the San Juan Islands archipelago. In 1999, Jannard purchased two properties in Newport Beach, California, for about $15 million.

2005

In 2005, Jannard started Red Digital Cinema Camera Company. In 2007, Red released the Red One which was used to shoot Wanted, Che, The Informant, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In 2010, Red released the Red Epic which was used to shoot The Amazing Spiderman, The Hobbit, Prometheus, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Great Gatsby as well as many other feature films.

2007

He sold Oakley in November 2007 for $2.1 billion to Italian company Luxottica, the world's largest eyewear manufacturers and Retailers.

2009

In 2009, Jannard was named one of the 100 Most Creative People by Fast Company Magazine.

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