James Jebbia (born July 22, 1963) is an American-British businessman, fashion designer and former child actor. He is known for being the founder of the skateboarding shop and clothing brand Supreme.
What is James Jebbia’s Net Worth?
James Jebbia is a businessman and fashion designer who has a net worth of $800 million. James Jebbia is best known for founding the New York City-based skateboarding lifestyle and clothing brand Supreme. Beyond the United States, the company has stores in such places as London, Paris, Milan, and multiple locations in Japan. Prior to entering the business and fashion worlds, Jebbia was a child actor in the first season of the British children’s television series “Grange Hill.”
In 2017 private equity firm Carlyle Group spent $500 million to acquire a 50% stake in Supreme, valuing the brand at $1 billion.
In November 2020 it was announced that Supreme had been acquired by VF Corp. for $2.1 billion.
Early life
James Jebbia was born on July 22, 1963, in the United States. His American father was formerly in the United States Air Force, and his English mother is a former teacher. His parents divorced when he was around 10 years old.
At one years old, Jebbia’s parents relocated from the U.S. to Crawley, West Sussex in the United Kingdom. In 1983, Jebbia moved back to the United States when he was 19 years old, settling in Staten Island, New York City.
Career
In the late 1970s Jebbia worked as a child actor including appearing in the first series of Grange Hill as Tommy Watson.
In 1983, Jebbia’s first job in New York was at Parachute, a minimalist skate shop and clothing store located in SoHo, Manhattan.
In 1989, he managed the streetwear store, Union NYC, which carried a mix of mostly English clothing brands. Its first store opened in 1989 on Spring Street in Manhattan, and later closed in 2009. From 1991 to 1994, he partnered with Shawn Stussy, the founder of the clothing brand, Stüssy.
In 1994, Jebbia founded the clothing brand and skateboarding shop Supreme, and opened its first store on Lafayette Street in Manhattan. Among his earliest designs was a cut-and-sew pair of tiger-stripe cargo pants. As of 2021, Supreme has 14 locations worldwide, one each in New York City, Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Milan, and six in Japan (Harajuku, Shibuya, Daikanyama, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka).
In 2017, Supreme collaborated with Louis Vuitton, with their debut collection unveiled during Paris Fashion Week.
Jebbia has collaborated with high-profile artists, such as Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince
Child Actor
Jebbia began his professional career as a child actor in the late 1970s. He played Tommy Watson in the first season of the children’s television series “Grange Hill,” focused on the eponymous fictional comprehensive school in the fictional North London borough of Northam. The show was infamous for its gritty depiction of school life, which significantly deviated from the more sanitized portrayals of earlier school-based dramas. “Grange Hill” tackled such taboo topics as drug use, homosexuality, mental illness, child abuse, and sexual assault.
Career Beginnings in Fashion
After returning to the States in 1983, Jebbia landed his first job in New York at the minimalist skate shop and clothing store Parachute. Later in the decade, he founded and began managing the streetwear store Union NYC, which carried predominantly English clothing brands; opened in 1989, it was located on Spring Street in Manhattan before moving to Los Angeles. Jebbia subsequently partnered with Shawn Stussy, founder of the clothing brand Stüssy, from 1991 to 1994.
