13 things about Chicago, Illinois native Ty Warner

Harold Ty Warner was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States to Harold “Hal” Warner and Georgia Warner. Ty has a younger sister named Joyce Warner.

A woman was left in a coma after she was violently attacked during a break-in Wednesday at the California mansion of Beanie Babies billionaire Ty Warner. https://t.co/FYqNtXPC26

— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 27, 2025

BIOGRAPHY

Ty is an American billionaire businessman and toy manufacturer raised in La Grange, Illinois. When he was young, he moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, California, USA to pursue a career in acting.

After five years in Los Angeles, Ty went back to Chicago and started working for plush toy maker Dakin as a salesman. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. In 1958, he entered Lyons Township High School in La Grange.
2. In 1962, he graduated from St. John’s Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, USA.
3. In 1980, Dakin fired him reportedly for selling his own products to established customers in competition with the company’s line.
4. In 1986, he founded Ty Inc., an Oak Brook, Illinois-based corporation that designs, develops and sells products.
5. In 1993, Ty Inc. launched Beanie Babies, a line of stuffed toys he created.
6. Between 1996 and 2008, he opened and maintained undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland at both Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB).
7. Between 1999 and 2007, his unreported gross income from those accounts totaled $24,448,912.
8. From 2002 through tax year 2007, he did not report the existence of or income from his ZKB account.
9. In 2002, he earned approximately $3,161,788 in gross income through investments held in his UBS account and transferred the assets in the account to ZKB.
10. In 2005, he started donating cash and toys to the Children’s Hunger Fund.
11. In 2006, the Children’s Hunger Fund honored him with the Children’s Champion Award for his philanthropic efforts.
12. In 2012, Santa Barbara, California resident Jennifer Vasilakos gave him directions when he was lost in the city then donated $20,000 to her after learning that she was raising money for a stem-cell procedure she needed to save her life.
13. On September 3, 2024, he turned 80.

TIMELINE

Ty spent one year at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He was named after Tyrus Raymond “Ty” Cobb, who played in the Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1928.

1990s

• In January 1996, he traveled to Zurich, Switzerland to open an undeclared account at UBS.

2000s

• In December 2002, he traveled to Zurich and transferred approximately $93.63 million from UBS to ZKB.
• On amended tax returns he filed in December 2007, he failed to report the accounts and income for tax years 2002 to 2005.

2010s

• On September 18, 2013, he was charged with federal tax evasion.
• On January 14, 2014, he was sentenced by District Court Judge Charles P. Kocoras to two years of probation plus 500 hours of community service. 

2020s

• On May 21, 2025, U.S. Army veteran Russell Maxwell Phay, then 42, of Henderson, Nevada, USA broke into his residence in Montecito, California and allegedly attacked Linda Malek-Aslanian, then 60, of New York City, New York, USA. He was at the residence during the attack but was not physically harmed.
• As of May 27, 2025, his net worth is $6 billion.