That’s a lot of men’s ties.
Fashion icon Ralph Lauren, who grew up in The Bronx and graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and sold ties at Brooks Brothers, plans to sell about $955 million in preferred shares in his namesake company — the single biggest payday of his storied career.
Lauren, 70, chairman and chief executive of his 43-year old company, said he was liquidating a piece of his controlling stake in the business as part of his “individual asset diversification plan.”
Lauren, who grew his simply tie business into a global, multi-billion dollar brand, is worth about $4.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine. His company, Polo Ralph Lauren, is worth about $8.3 billion — not counting the class B preferred shares — which he will sell under the plan.
Lauren and his family currently own 39.8 million, or 95.1 percent, of the preferred shares, giving him an iron fist control over the company.
After the offering, that stake will fall to 29.5 million, or 93.5 percent, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Even after the share dilution, Lauren and his family will control 80.1 percent of the voting power of the company.
Under the plan, Lauren will sell nine million Class A shares of Polo Ralph Lauren to the public and will give underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 1.35 million shares to cover over-allotments, the company said. In addition, the company will buy one million shares from Lauren.
Polo shares rose 72 cents yesterday to $84.17 prior to the after-hours secondary share offering announcement. In after-hours trading, Polo shares fell about 3 percent to $82.
Lauren’s asset diversification plan is not the first time the designer’s age, future with the company or the future of the company post-Lauren has come up.
For a number of years, people inside and outside Seventh Avenue have been wondering when the Polo board would address the issue.
One of Lauren’s three children, 38-year old David, is an executive with the company and is in charge of advertising for Polo’s 28 brands. Some see him as a likely heir apparent to the top spot — as he has toiled at the company for more than 10 years.
His daughter, Dylan, owns the Dylan’s Candy Bar, Upper East Side upscale candy store and party place, and oldest son Andrew, runs his own business.
The issue arose last summer when apparel industry veteran Roger Farah, president and chief operating officer, saw his contract come up for renewal.
Farah eventually decided to renew his contract, through 2013, but The Post reported shortly thereafter that the 56-year old executive was telling friends that this was his last Polo contract.
Farah is credited with turning around the company. For the fiscal year ended April 3, sales were flat at $5 billion but operating profits soared 18 percent to $706.9 million.
The nearly $1 billion payday for the designer is nearly double the $518.5 million bonanza he and his family trust pocketed when the company went public in June 1997.