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Where is Beanie Baby mogul Ty Warner now? The release of ‘The Beanie Bubble’ has us wondering where the CEO is and if he had to go to jail.
Content warning: This article contains mentions of domestic abuse.
For some reason, it always seems like every fun thing from our youth has a dark side. First, we learned about the violence that Barney the Dinosaur incited from Peacock’s I Love You, You Hate Me. We’re now learning that Ty Warner, the founder and CEO of Ty Inc. and its viral beanie babies, could have gone to jail.
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Why is nothing pure in this world?! With the release of Apple TV Plus’s The Beanie Bubble, which stars Zach Galifianakis as Ty Warner, we can’t help but wonder what Ty is up to now. So where is Ty Warner, and did he ever have to serve a jail sentence?
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Ty Warner now lives between Oak Brook, Ill. and his Montecito mansion while battling several lawsuits.
It would have been amazing if Ty was just a harmless billionaire who gave to charity while giving us the wonderful world of beanie babies. But he’s often described as an eccentric recluse; think Willy Wonka or the Wizard of Oz. He provides joy to millions but still does some borderline-evil things while keeping details of his identity locked up.
Since becoming a billionaire, thanks to his Ty beanie babies, he’s purchased a wide array of hotel properties that fill out his portfolio of Ty Hotels & Resorts, the highest-profile ones being the Four Seasons properties in NYC and Santa Barbara. However, they have also caused some controversy in the media in recent years.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ty decided to shutter his hotel properties, and despite reopening his other properties (Montecito Club, Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club, San Ysidro Ranch, Sandpiper Golf Club, and Las Ventanas Al Paraiso), both Four Seasons properties have remained closed.
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The New York Post suggested that Ty has been in a rift with his Four Seasons hotels. But the rift worsened when furloughed employees banded together in a $6 million class-action lawsuit against Ty. According to the employees’ lawyer, Bruce Anticouni, “Four Seasons is contractually obligated to compensate its former employees substantial Separation Pay when their employment has come to an end.”
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“The company takes the position that they are still employed and will come back at some point — but we’re not seeing evidence of that,” he told the Post. “It’s been close to 1,000 days already … There have been a lot of sad stories. A lot of employees losing their houses, divorces, and at least one suicide.”
But that’s not the only lawsuit in which the 78-year-old CEO is caught up. His ex-girlfriend, 87-year-old Kathryn Zimmie, sued him in 2021 for half of his $400 million Montecito estate. There haven’t been any updates on the lawsuit, but it is sadly embroiled in domestic abuse. In a complaint filed in Sept. 2021, Kathryn stated she “fled” the estate “out of fear for her well-being and safety.”
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She recounted several instances in which she felt she was in danger. They lived together romantically for almost 20 years, and Kathryn said he promised he’d financially support her “fairly and forever.” The lawsuit alleged when she tried to leave in 2012, “Warner squeezed Zimmie’s throat so hard that she realized that her life was in danger if she ever left him.”
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In addition, she said he used her name to create an illegal shell company called Cleveland Design Consultants, LLC, without her knowledge. However, Ty denies these claims. His lawyer Gregory Scandaglia told The Independent, “In the wake of Ms. Zimmie’s decision to end her relationship with Mr. Warner, she has filed a sensationalized lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars of his earnings and assets.
“Her claims have no legal basis and are entirely without merit. Mr. Warner denies her allegations and will defend against them vigorously in court.”
Considered by Forbes to be the world’s 447th richest person with a reported net worth of $6.1 billion as of July 20, 2023, Ty’s been linked to legal troubles ever since his tax evasion scandal of 2014.
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Ty Warner hasn’t been to jail (yet) for any of his crimes.
Money can’t buy you everything, but it can keep plenty of people out of jail. In 2014, Ty was caught with an offshore account he maintained in Switzerland with over $107 million. Despite a recommended year-and-one-day jail sentence, Ty’s lawyers used the “Olenicoff Defense” to keep Ty out of jail.
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Real estate mogul Igor Olenicoff had the largest-ever offshore account and was only sentenced to two years probation and 500 hours of community service. However, Igor pled guilty to filing a false tax return, while Ty was guilty of tax evasion, a more serious crime. Even still, the judge gave Ty the same sentence Igor received, and he evaded jail time.
Ty is still the CEO of his beanie babies company and hotel portfolio, is one of the world’s wealthiest people, and has managed to stay out of prison. But his several pending lawsuits could change that.
Beanie Bubble releases in select theaters on July 21 and drops on Apple TV Plus on July 28.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Source: https://www.distractify.com/p/ty-warner-now
