Born into a poor Jewish family, but now Ralph Lauren has become one of the richest billionaires with a fortune of nearly 7 billion USD. To have the success as today, Ralph Lauren has gone through many difficulties and challenges.

Overcoming adversity to succeed

Ralph Lauren (born Ralph Lifshitz) was born in The Bronx, New York in 1939, the youngest child of a family of four Jewish children who immigrated from Russia to the United States. The Ralphs were not rich, but had an artistic tradition. Mother is Fradyl Koltar-Lifshitz, father is muralist Frank Lifshitz. Ralph’s mother once wanted her youngest son to become a rabbi, but the boy became independent early on and had his own will to strive.

Ralph had ambitions from a young age, always considering John F. Kennedy and James Stewart as his heroes and hoping to become famous as a movie star, dancer or baseball player.

Ralph Lifshitz soon revealed his fashion sense. The family was poor, so Ralph thought of a way to shop to get money to buy really cool suits. When he was at MTA (now Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy) he was famous for selling ties and bow ties to his classmates. In a later interview, he said he had a desire to get rich since he was a college student: “At that time, professionally designed ties cost just over $5 each, but ties mine can sell for 15 dollars.”

When he was 16, Ralph Lifshitz changed his last name to Lauren. He confided to “American TV queen” Oprah Winfrey: “My name has a sensitive word in it, so when I was a child, I was always ridiculed by other children. That’s why I decided to change. Later, someone said that I changed my name to deny my Jewish roots, I absolutely did not. My cousins ​​in California also changed their last names to Lawrence. So I think I’ll have to choose a nicer last name.”

Ralph Lauren used to have a miserable youth.

Ralph Lauren is ranked in the list of billionaires without a university degree in the world next to famous businessmen like Jack Ma of Alibaba, Jan Koum – CEO of WhatsApp or Howard Schultz of Starbucks. Ralph studied business for two years at Baruch University, but then dropped out and joined the army from 1962-1964.

In 1967, Lauren worked in the Beau Brummell Neck wear store, where he first created a tie that was very popular with men. He was very bold when he designed a colorful wide European-style tie after seeing actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Meanwhile, at that time, products with solid colors and narrow versions were in fashion.

However, his idea was rejected by the company. But that’s not why he was discouraged. From rags, the Jewish boy turned them into ties and sold them to small stores in New York. A major turning point in his career in the tie business came when Ralph approached Neiman Marcus, the owner of the luxury retail brand. Neiman bought more than 1,000 ties from Ralph Lauren.

In 1967, with a loan of $50,000 from a brother, Ralph Lauren founded his own company in a room in the Empire State Building. “It is true that someone lent me $50,000 to start a business,” he said. But no one gave me the fashion kingdom that was already there.” With financial backing from clothing manufacturing company Norman Hilton, he opened a tie shop of his own design under the label “Polo”. In 1971, the fashion house expanded its business with another Polo store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

It can be seen that, with only a high school degree and a bit of knowledge from business classes, the decision to start her own company was the first challenge that Lauren ventured into in her legendary career. But that decision made his name.

Despite his rapid growth, he did not stop expanding the size of his company. John Varvatos – a close friend of his shared: “Ralph never rests on winning even 1 minute, meaning you can enjoy the moment, but remember to keep trying.”

Image of Ralph Lauren with a supercar.

In 1970, Ralph Lauren won the Coty Award for menswear. At the same time, he launched women’s clothing designed in the classic style of men’s suits. In 1972, the Jewish fashion house launched a series of short-sleeved T-shirts for women. It was his first womenswear collection with 24 different colors and quickly became a basic for women. In the 80s and 90s, Polo products sold extremely well throughout the United States and abroad.

In 1997, he put the brand name on the stock exchange and controlled 81.5% of the shares. The big-eyed kid who once dreamed of becoming a millionaire is now a billionaire – the 75-year-old fashion king enjoys the success of his own making, with homes in Jamaica, Long Island, Bedford and Manhattan, as well as Large ranch in Colorado.

By 2010, his fashion empire had 631 stores with 19,000 employees worldwide. In addition to many lines of men’s and women’s clothing, he also has a line of perfumes and luxury furniture. Ralph is also a familiar designer of the US Olympic team.

At 75, Ralph Lauren can already enjoy his success with homes in Jamaica, Long Island, Bedford and Manhattan… He also owns the world’s most valuable car collection: 70 cars with worth around $200 million, mostly vintage Italian cars dating back to the 20th century. There are also many extremely rare cars, like the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa from 1958. Auto museums borrow to display in special exhibitions.

Man actively doing charity

He married Ricky Anne Loew-Beer in 1964 in New York. Ricky has a Catholic Austrian mother and Jewish father. They met six months before getting married at the eye clinic where Ricky worked as a receptionist. At that time, Ralph Lauren had just been discharged from the army and was still working as a hired worker, then both emigrated to New York to establish a career. Ralph hid from his parents that his fiancée was half pagan for fear of their disapproval.

Ralph Lauren and Ricky have three children, two boys and one girl, all of whom have grown up and become successful: Andrew Lauren (actor, film producer), David Lauren (Vice President of Polo Ralph Lauren, his wife is a niece). daughter of former President George W. Bush) and daughter Dylan Lauren (who owns the largest confectionery store in the world).

Ralph is the real family man. The designer does not want to waste time on social gossip, but always prefers to spend peaceful time with his wife and children in the house on 5th Avenue, New York. In addition to this apartment, he has a house in the coastal resort of Jamaica, expensive properties in Montauk, Long Island and Colorado.

Born from poverty, despite having luxurious pleasures, Ralph Lauren is very active in charity. In a May 2014 speech, he said: “I hate when people call me a philanthropist, because it comes from the heart.” In early 1987, Ralph Lauren was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. That April, he had surgery to remove the tumor and made a full recovery. Therefore, he is very sympathetic to cancer patients. The fashion house once held a large fashion gala to support the Cancer Care and Prevention Support Fund, collecting a record amount of charity: more than 7 million USD.

Ralph Lauren also co-founded the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University in 1989 and has launched a fashion campaign against breast cancer every year since 1994. In 2001, the Ralph Lauren Corporation opened the Polo Ralph Foundation Lauren supports various charitable programs around the world such as helping AIDS patients, helping restore iconic American historical sites, etc.