Michael Stanton Jeffries, who is popular as Mike Jeffries, is an American businessman. The 77-year-old has helped in the reestablishment of the clothing enterprise named Abercrombie & Fitch and he was also the CEO of the company until 2014.
In this article, we will cover all the information that is available to us about Mike Jeffries, read the full article to know more.
What Is the Net Worth of Mike Jeffries?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mike Jeffries has an estimated net worth of $300 million as of 2022.
He gained popularity as the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch from the period 1992 to 2014 and this was the period when the company turned into one of the world’s most valuable retailers after getting bankrupt.
Early Life
Jeffries was born in Oklahoma on 15 July 1944. He is the child of Mr. and Mrs. Donald R. Jeffries. He was raised in Los Angeles, California as his father owned Party Time, a series of party supply stores.
After attending high school, Jeffries went to Claremont Men’s College (now known as Claremont McKenna College) and in 1966, he completed his graduation earning a degree in BA in Economics. In 1968. He earned an MBA degree from Columbia Business School and also attended the London School of Economics.
Personal Life
Jeffries tied the knot with Susan Marie Isabel Hansen, daughter of Charles Henry Hansen, president and founder of Charles Hansen Music Publishing on April 3, 1971, in Miami, Florida. The couple has a child together.
After he separated from his wife, Jeffries was said to be staying with his partner, Matthew Smith, and three dogs as of 2013.
Smith led the Jeffries Family Office, an Ohio limited liability corporation that “advocates for the personal interests of Abercrombie’s CEO.” Smith also examined internal documents of Abercrombie & Fitch and sought out matters related to real estate.
Smith’s engagement with Abercrombie & Fitch was slammed in a couple of quarters as an instance of bad corporate governance, as he had no formal position in the company. In 2014, his involvement became a factor in the removal of Jeffries from the position of CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.
Career
Jeffries joined the management training program at Abraham & Straus in 1968, a now-extinct department store in New York City. He worked with Allen Questrom (of J.C. Penney) and Millard S. Drexler (the former CEO of Gap Inc., who now works at J. Crew) during this period.
He established Alcott & Andrews in 1984, a brand aimed at the career of women. Initially, the brand was successful, however, it became bankrupt in 1989 because of overexpansion, and as a consequence, it was shut down. After that, Jeffries joined Paul Harris, a Midwest clothing company.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
In 1992, Jeffries was appointed by Leslie Wexner (CEO of LBrands, later named The Limited) to revive Abercrombie & Fitch which was established in 1892, and in 1988, Limited Brands acquired the company after it fell into bankruptcy. He is said to have been the prominent creator of the company’s new look.
Then, it was re-established as a popular clothing retailer for the collegiate. Abercrombie & Fitch then managed to open many new stores by the mid- 1990s. LBrands wasn’t immensely involved any longer with the company by the year 1996 and apparently handed over the company under Jeffries’ management.
During this period, the company has been part of many controversies from multiple groups like the feminist movement and the American Decency Association, and several legal suits as well.
A straightforward businessman, Jeffries has made such statements many times in the media that can lead to controversy. Remarks made by him include his claim that “We hire good-looking people in our stores.
Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.”
Jeffries earned nearly $25 million in 2004, with US$6 million as a “stay bonus,” which decreased from $12 million following a controversy involving his “excessive compensation”.
Following a survey of 2,000 US corporations took place, the Corporate Library marked Jeffries as the “Highest Paid Worst Performer” in the year 2008, following he got a compensation package worth $71.8 million.
He declined to lessen the prices or give discounts at Abercrombie & Fitch stores amidst the retail recession through September 2009, following it reported same-store sales losses for seventeen continuous months.
His employment agreement was scheduled to end on 31 December 2008. In December 2008, the announcement was made from A&F corporate that the agreement had been renewed. Later, it ended in February 2014.
In 2008, following a decline because of the financial crisis, the recovery was done in 2011. In 2011, his aggregate compensation was anticipated at $46,609,075, the majority of this being in the form of stock options.
He had nearly 2.9% shares of the company as of 2012, which made it tough to remove him without his approval. During this period, his recent agreement demanded a payout of more than one hundred million dollars should he lose his job because of a change in ownership.
In December 2013, it was revealed that Jeffries had agreed upon a new contract with the company that led to linking his pay with the performance of company A&F. Again, in December, Herb Greenberg, a market commentator called Jeffries the worst CEO of 2013.
Greenberg highlighted that the stock price for Abercrombie and Fitch experienced a decline of 40 percent during the year. This emerged following Jim Cramer of CNBC had previously named Jeffries to his “Wall of Shame”.
Once, there was a time when Jeffries was one of the highest-paid CEOs in the retail sector; however, in 2013, he experienced a fall in his compensation by 72%. During the financial year of 2013 which ended on February 1, Jeffries’ aggregate pay was $2.24 million which was dropped from $8.16 million in the earlier year and $48.1 million before that.
In December 2014, Jeffries stepped down as A&F CEO amidst major condemnation about the performance of the company and 11 consecutive quarters of negative company comparable-store sales. And, after the announcement of that move was made, the shares rose by 8% which became the biggest one-day gain in the last 9 months.
Controversies
During an interview with Salon in 2006, he said that his clothing brand was only for “cool” ones. In addition, he also stated that he didn’t want obese or unattractive people to put on his clothes.
The remarks which leaked out in 2013, attracted negative publicity and criticism for the company. Later, a public apology was issued by Jeffries on May 15, 2013, mentioning that “We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics”.
In October 2012, Bloomberg News was the first to report on Jeffries’ principles for his cabin crew on Abercrombie’s Gulfstream G-V Jet, utilized by Jeffries, Smith, and their dogs.
The male models working as stewards aboard the company jet were needed to put on Abercrombie-branded polos, jeans, boxer briefs, and flip-flops as part of their uniform, and also a “spritz” of cologne.
This detail then came into being because of a legal suit that asserted Jeffries fired his own jet pilot to supersede him with a younger man. The case was resolved out of court rapidly when the presiding judge asked Jeffries to testify.
Male house staff for Jeffries, paid for by the Jeffries Family Office, were given by the same modeling firm that sends male staff for the company jet.
Final Words
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