Daymon Garfield John

Brooklyn College Academy 2022 Black History Month Honoree

Daymond Garfield John is an American businessman, investor, television personality, author, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the founder, president, and Chief Executive Officer of FUBU, and appears as an investor on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank. Based in New York City, John is the founder of The Shark Group.

Daymond John was born February 23, 1969 in Brooklyn, but he grew up in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens. He began working at the age of 10. In high school, he participated in a program that allowed him to work a full-time job and attend school on an alternating weekly basis, which he credits with instilling an entrepreneurial spirit. After graduating from high school, he started a dollar van service and waited tables at Red Lobster.

Daymond John started FUBU - FOR US BY US in his mother's house in Hollis, Queens. When Daymond first had the idea for a clothing company for young men, his mother taught him how to sew. Sensing his potential, Daymond’s mother mortgaged her house for $100,000 to generate start-up capital. He recruited longtime friends Carl Brown, J. Alexander Martin and Keith Perrin into the business, and began sewing the FUBU logo onto hockey jerseys, sweatshirts, and T-shirts.

They loaned about 10 of the hockey jerseys out to rappers for their music videos and got product placements in about 30 videos. They were perceived as a large clothing brand, despite being a relatively small company and stores started requesting their brand. In 1993, he convinced LL Cool J, an old neighborhood friend, to wear a FUBU T-shirt in his video and incorporate the line "for us, by us" in his rapping.

Immediately Daymond received $300,000 in orders and also an offer to work with Macy’s at a Las Vegas fashion trade show called MAGIC. Daymond had to take out a second mortgage on his mother's house to fulfill the orders. After being turned down by 27 banks for a loan, his mother used the last of their money to take out an advertisement in the NY Times.

Due to the New York Times ad, FUBU made a deal with Samsung Textiles, allowing them to complete their orders. FUBU has earned over $6 billion in global sales. FUBU is featured at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

In 2009, John received a call from Mark Burnett asking him to join the cast of ABC's new reality business show Shark Tank. John has invested $8,567,000 of his own money in Shark Tank companies. His favorite investments on record were Al "Bubba" Baker's boneless ribs and Bombas socks. John invested in Bubba's-Q Boneless Ribs on Season 5 of Shark Tank and has helped grow the company from $154,000 in sales to $16 million in 3 years. After investing in Bombas Socks on Season 6 of Shark Tank, total sales for the company increased from $450,000 in the first nine months to $12 million.

John is the CEO and founder of The Shark Group, a brand management and consulting firm.. From humble beginnings to the personification of the American dream. A self-made multimillionaire with over $6 billion to date in global product sales. He continues to set standards of excellence while expanding his interests in fashion, branding, marketing, consulting, entertainment, and beyond.

Daymond John has been a speaker at engagements including AT&T's History Makers Tour, Babson College School of Entrepreneurship and Rutgers University. Recently, he signed a deal with Audible. As of 2022, Daymond John's net worth is estimated to be roughly $350 million.

Mr. Daymond Garfield John is BCA’s 2022 Black History Month Honoree for Business.