Timothy P. Boyle^[1] (born 1949) is an American billionaire, and the president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear.^[2]

According to Forbes, his estimated net worth was US$2.0 billion in November 2022.^[3]

Early life

Boyle was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.^[4] He is one of three children of Joseph Cornelius "Neal" Boyle, an Irish Catholic, and Gertrude Lamfrom.^[5] His mother was Jewish and fled as a teenager from Nazi Germany. She immigrated to Portland, Oregon,^[6] and converted to Catholicism after marrying her husband.^[6] He has two sisters: Kathy Boyle (born 1952) and Sally Boyle (born 1958).^[5]

His grandfather purchased the Rosenfeld Hat Company^[5] and changed its name to the Columbia Hat Company^[7] (after the river).^[5] His father became president of Columbia Hat after his grandfather died and then diversified the hat business into outerwear^[5] for hunters, fishermen, and skiers.^[6] In 1960, his mother designed the first fishing vest (his father was an avid fisherman) and the name of the company was changed to Columbia Sportswear.^[7]

Boyle was educated at Jesuit High School, in Beaverton, Oregon, just outside Portland, followed by the University of Oregon, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1971.^[8]

Career

Boyle was still at university when his father died in 1970^[9] at the age of 47. He left to join his mother, who had become president of Columbia Hat, which was then earning $800,000 in annual sales and had 40 employees.^[5] The company struggled and teetered on bankruptcy^[10] until in the 1970s when Boyle and his mother refocused the business on outdoor clothing and casual wear which paralleled a general trend away from formal work attire.^[11] In 1975, they were the first company to introduce Gore-Tex parkas.^[7]

In 1986, Columbia released the Bugaboo, a jacket with a zip out lining which became quite trendy and further propelled the company's growth.^[5] Columbia was unique among specialty clothing manufacturers in that it would sell its products to any retail shop or chain.^[6] In 1987, Columbia had $18.8 million in sales and by 1997 it had grown to $353.5 million.^[6] Boyle took over from his mother, Gert, as company president in 1988.^[12][13]

The company went public in 1998.^[11] In the early 2010s, Boyle refocused Columbia away from top line products and more towards the mid-range, moderately priced products; he also continued to align sales with changes happening in the retail industry, shifting the company more toward internet sales.^[2]

Columbia grew into a $6.5bn public company,^[14] and Boyle's 41% ownership interest in Columbia Sportswear was worth over $1.0 billion in 2013.^[2]

In 2020, Forbes ranked Boyle No. 378 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.^[15]

Personal life

Boyle and his wife Mary have a son, educated at Drake University in Des Moines, and a daughter, educated at the University of Washington.^[16] They live in Portland, Oregon.^[3]

In 2007, he and his wife Mary donated $5 million to the University of Oregon.^[17] In 2016, he donated $10 million to the university's aquatic animal care facility.^[18] More recently the couple donated $10 million towards a biomedical data science initiative.^[19] In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Boyle reduced his own salary to $10,000 while maintaining the full salary and benefits of all his company's retail employees.^[20]

References