James Jannard (born June 8, 1949)
retrieved September 9, 2013 is an American designer, businessman and founder of Oakley, an eyewear and apparel company; and

Red Digital Cinema Camera Company Red Digital Cinema, LLC is an American camera manufacturer specializing in digital cinematography headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, United States. It has been owned by Nikon since April 2024. The company has studios in Hollywood, Los ...

Early life and career

Jannard was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the son of a pharmacist. He was raised in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from "Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately east from the downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July 11, 190 ...

and was graduated from Alhambra High School. He attended the

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

School of Pharmacy, but dropped out to travel the southwestern U.S. on a motorcycle. In 1975, Jannard started a one-man business selling motorcycle parts out of his car at

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

events. He named his company after his dog, Oakley. He began developing his own products, including custom handlebar grips that conformed to the shape of one's hand, motorcycle goggles, ski goggles and sunglasses. Oakley sunglasses were used by bicycle racer

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...

, raising the company's profile. In the 1980s, Jannard 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. Jannard sold Oakley in November 2007 for $2.1 billion to Italian company

Luxottica Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian glasses, eyewear multinational corporation headquartered in Milan. As a vertically integrated company, Luxottica designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails its eyewear brands through its own subsidiaries ...

, the world's largest eyewear manufacturer and retailer. In 2005, Jannard started

, maker of some of the most popular digital cinema cameras in the industry. In 2009, he was named one of the 100 Most Creative People by ''Fast Company'' magazine. On Oct. 24, 2019, Jannard announced his retirement, citing his age and "a few health issues."

Personal life

Jannard owns the

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

islands of Kaibu and Vatu Vara. He also owns the 500-acre Spieden Island in the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

. In 1999, Jannard purchased two properties in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

for about $15 million. On June 18, 2024, the Los Angeles Times announced that Jannard had sold his Malibu oceanfront estate for $210 million, setting a California state record.Los Angeles Times:California:2024-06-18: Oakley Founder James Jannard sells Malibu mansion for 210 million a California record
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References

External links

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'The Hobbit' Director Peter Jackson: How Billionaire Jim Jannard Made The Film Possible
Forbes {{DEFAULTSORT:Jannard, James 1949 births American billionaires American chief executives Living people University of Southern California alumni Latter Day Saints from California Alhambra High School (Alhambra, California) alumni Businesspeople from Los Angeles