J. Christopher Burch

In 1976, while an undergraduate at Ithaca College, Burch and his brother Robert started Eagle's Eye apparel with a $2,000 investment, buying sweaters for $10 each and selling them for $15.[14][15] Burch decided to find a factory to produce a new brand of "preppy" sweaters so that he could sell them door-to-door on campus. His operation soon expanded to other campuses, and, eventually, to retail stores.[16] Over the next decade, the company expanded to $140 million in sales[14] and a national distribution footprint, including more than 50 of its own retail stores. The company was partially sold to Swire Group, in 1989, and entirely, in 1998 in a deal that valued the brand at $60 million.[17]

In 2004, Burch helped his then wife to launch the Tory Burch fashion label,[4] and served as co-Chairman of the company.[18][19] He also owned 28.3%, selling half of it in December 2012,[20] as the company was estimated to be worth $3.5 billion.[21] He then established J. Christopher Capital LLC in 2008, later renamed Burch Creative Capital. The company was developed to incubate his new brands and to manage his investments.[4] In 2011, he launched C. Wonder, an apparel, accessories and home decor retailer.[4] In July 2015 the C. Wonder brand was purchased by Xcel Brands.[22]

In 2004, Burch partnered with architect Philippe Starck and hotelier Alan Faena to develop the Faena Hotel+Universe in Buenos Aires. The investment into the building, first built in 1902 as a grain storage facility, was in excess of $100 million.[23] In 2014 he once again invested in the real estate developer's projects after purchasing a condo in Faena House, a South Beach development.[24]

In 2005, Burch purchased a luxury home in Southampton, New York for $14 million, and sold the home for $25 million four months later after renovating the property.[25] Burch then founded J.B. Christopher, a supplier of construction materials to real estate developers, in 2006.[26] In 2011, Burch and his partner Austin Hearst completed the development of a $19 million luxury home developments in Nantucket, Massachusetts.[27] In 2012 he acquired a townhouse in the West Village for $11 million after he had been previously renting it.[28] He subsequently undertook a renovation project that was left unfinished before the property was once again put on the market.

In 2013, Burch purchased the Nihiwatu resort on the island of Sumba, a 27 villa estate resort near Bali.[29]

In 1993, Burch was a producer for the feature-length romantic comedy film Watch It, directed by Tom Flynn, which received a favorable review from the New York Times.[30] He was one of the earliest investors in the Internet IPO for Internet Capital Group,[4] and has made several investments in telecommunications, including Aliph[31] and Powermat.[16] He was also an investor in the online office retailer Poppin.[7] In a partnership with James McBride, he acquired Nihiwatu Resort on the Indonesian island of Sumba in 2013. After a $30 million investment, the pair opened the resort in 2015 under the name Nihi.[32] In 2014, he invested in BaubleBar, leading an investment round of $10 million.[33] That year he also partnered with Ellen DeGeneres to launch her lifestyles collection E.D.[34]