John Paul DeJoria

John Paul Jones DeJoria (born April 13, 1944) is an American entrepreneur, a billionaire[3] and philanthropist best known as a co-founder of the Paul Mitchell line of hair products and The Patrón Spirits Company.

John Paul DeJoria
DeJoria
Born
John Paul Jones DeJoria

(1944-04-13) April 13, 1944
NationalityAmerican
Years active1980–present
Known forJohn Paul Mitchell Systems
Net worth US$3.1 billion (March 2020)[1]
Spouse(s)
Eloise Broady
(
m. 1993)
[2]
Children4, including Alexis DeJoria

Early life and education

John Paul Jones DeJoria[4] was born the second son of an Italian immigrant father and a Greek immigrant mother[5] on April 13, 1944,[6] in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. His parents divorced by the time he was two years old, and at nine he began selling Christmas cards and newspapers with his older brother to support his family. He grew up in Atwater Village on Garden Avenue and then Revere. He attended Atwater Elementary School and John Marshall High School. When his single mother proved unable to support both children, they were sent to an East Los Angeles foster home.[7][8]

Career

DeJoria spent two years in the United States Navy,[7] serving on the USS Hornet.[9] After that, he held a series of jobs including janitor, door-to-door encyclopedia salesman and insurance salesman.[10][11]

DeJoria entered the world of hair care as an entry-level employee of Redken Laboratories. He was fired from this position. In 1980, he formed John Paul Mitchell Systems with hairdresser Paul Mitchell and a loan for $700[7] and while living in a 20-year-old Rolls Royce automobile.[11]

DeJoria co-founded the Patrón Spirits Company in 1989,[12] is a founding partner of the House of Blues nightclub chain, and has interests in Madagascar Oil Ltd., Pyrat Rum, Smokey Mountain Bison Farm, llc, Ultimat Vodka, Solar Utility, Sun King Solar, Touchstone Natural Gas, Three Star Energy, Diamond Audio, a Harley-Davidson dealership, a diamond company (DeJoria),[13] mobile technology developer ROK AMERICAS, the John Paul Pet Company which does hair and personal grooming for animals, and J&D Acquisitions LLC, the parent company for the Larson, Striper, Triumph, Marquis and Carver boat companies formed with Minneapolis-based investor Irwin L. Jacobs.[14] In 2008, DeJoria became an advisory board member for The Beauty Channel; a streaming beauty and fashion-focused television station.[15]

DeJoria has been active in the film industry as an executive producer and actor.[16] He made a cameo appearance as himself, in the 2008 comedy You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and also in The Big Tease as the fictional John Paul Mitchell. DeJoria also made a cameo appearance in the Showtime series Weeds season 2. He narrated and appeared in television commercials for Patron in November 2011. He appeared on the November 1, 2013, broadcast of the ABC reality series Shark Tank as a guest investor, replacing series regular Robert Herjavec. With a 2017 net worth of US $3.1 billion, he is the 3rd richest "shark" of all time on the show, behind series regular Mark Cuban (2017 net worth: US $3.3 billion) and fellow "guest shark" Sir Richard Branson (2017 net worth: US $5.1 billion).[17]

Patrón Tequila Express
The Patrón Tequila Express private railroad car is owned by DeJoria.

DeJoria owns the Patrón Tequila Express, a historic private railroad car.[18][19][20] It was built in 1927, and was previously used by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad as Car No. 50.[18] DeJoria bought the train car in 1996 and spent $2 million to renovate it.[19][20] The train car is 85 feet (26 m) long and contains three staterooms (each with a bathroom and shower), a kitchen, a dining room, an observation room, and an outdoor deck.[18][19][20] In addition to the mileage fees paid to Amtrak to transport the train car across the United States, it costs $10,000 a month to staff, maintain, store, and insure the Patrón Tequila Express.[19][20]

Personal life

DeJoria is married. He and his wife, Eloise (née Broady), have contributed over $4,000 to the political campaigns of Senator Ted Cruz and over $5,000 to Texas Governor Rick Perry, among others, as well as to the DNC and many Democratic political candidates.[21][22]

DeJoria is a supporter of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Food4Africa, Mineseeker, and Blazer House.[11] In 2008, DeJoria traveled to sub-Saharan Africa to join Nelson Mandela in his efforts to help feed over 17,000 orphaned children through Food4Africa.[23] In the same year his company Paul Mitchell helped provide over 400,000 life-saving meals for the children.[24] Dejoria is a co-creator of Grow Appalachia, an organization begun in 2009 which helps promote healthy food and teaching farming skills.[11]

In 2017, a documentary named Good Fortune was released depicting the struggle and philanthropic work of DeJoria which later won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Sundance.[25]

In 2012, using a video, he showed his support for Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, when Watson was detained in Germany for interfering with shark finning operations.[26]

In 2019, he purchased the 80-acre former McDonald's global headquarters campus. This acquisition includes the Hamburger University training facility, in addition to the Hyatt-branded and managed hotel, The Hyatt Lodge. [27]

gollark: According to me, oh bee how would I even meaningfully predict that.
gollark: Interesting.
gollark: I'm sure you can implement fancy decentralised car flocking.
gollark: Obviously it would be magically automation.
gollark: Via technological progress.

See also

References
  1. "John Paul DeJoria". Forbes. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  2. Mesinger, Maxine (1993-06-15). "A wedding to remember". The Houston Chronicle.
  3. Elkins, Kathleen (December 9, 2015). "Billionaire John Paul DeJoria says the smartest thing he's ever done with his money is a habit he started at age 6". BusinessInsider.com. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  4. Palmeri, Christopher (1991-03-04). "Often Down but Never Out". Forbes. 147 (5): 138. ISSN 0015-6914. OCLC 6465733.
  5. Romero, Dennis (10 June 2009). "Homelessness, Hair Care and 12,000 Bottles of Tequila". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. Gilbert, Jeffrey (2003-04-14). "'Hairdressers and Harleys care' Bikers' benefit roars through Austin". Austin American-Statesman. p. B1.
  7. Breyer, R. Michelle (1997-12-07). "HOMECOMING; John Paul DeJoria, chairman of the Paul Mitchell". Austin American-Statesman. p. J1.
  8. Krier, Beth Ann (1991-12-20). "You can go from absolute zero to millions, says hair-care mogul John Paul Jones De Joria. He's got the business and the toys to prove it. Top of the Line". Los Angeles Times. p. E1.
  9. Sciacca, Patrick (February 2015). "One With The Water". Yachting: 36.
  10. Wilson, Jeff (1999-06-29). "Battling Bogus Hair Products; Paul Mitchell's chairman fights to wipe". Austin American-Statesman. p. D1.
  11. Bertoni, Steven (June 29, 2011). "A Billionaire's Agricultural Giving Plan". Forbes.com. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  12. Nelson, Brett (26 May 2011). "America's Richest Living Veterans". Forbes.com. p. 2. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012.
  13. "Who is DeJoria?". dejoria.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  14. "Jacobs buys back more Genmar assets". BoatingIndustry.com. Minneapolis. January 22, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  15. Francis, Eileen (July 7, 2018). "Beauty TV Accessible to TiVo Subscribers; Network Readies Brand for Sale". The Rose Sheet: 6.
  16. "John Paul DeJoria". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  17. Malankar, Nikhil (2017-03-27). "Shark Tank: Net Worth Of All Sharks On The Show Till Date". Tell Me Nothing. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  18. Newman, Liz (July 25, 2016). "7 Things You Didn't Know About The Patrón Tequila Express". The Patrón Spirits Company. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  19. Keates, Nancy (March 22, 2018). "Train Buffs Are Traveling Cross-Country in Super Luxe Railcars Hitched to Amtrak Trains". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  20. Curtis, Wayne (March 26, 2012). "All Aboard Patron Billionaire John Paul DeJoria's Golden-Era Railcar". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  21. "Donor Lookup: John DeJoria". OpenSecrets.org. The Center for Responsive Politics. 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  22. "Donor Lookup: Eloise DeJoria". OpenSecrets.org. The Center for Responsive Politics. 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  23. Food4Africa
  24. "John Paul DeJoria Supports Food4Africa". EsteticaMagazine.com. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  25. Daswani, Kavita (July 2017). "John Paul DeJoria, billionaire co-founder of Paul Mitchell hair-care brand, shares his 'Good Fortune' and more". LATimes.com. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  26. Big Think (July 30, 2017). "How I Overcame Homelessness Twice to Become a Billionaire - John Paul DeJoria". Retrieved June 9, 2019 – via YouTube.
  27. "John Paul DeJoria buys Former McDonald's HQ Site". Smart Business Dealmakers. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
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