Thread: Is Isaac Larian (founder of MGA Entertainment) a Billionaire?

Well as the title suggests, MGA Entertainment (there is a thread with a video about the company somewhere on the site, they make the Bratz dolls), was founded by Isaac Larian; I read that as of 2006, the company had $2 billion in revenue. It has 1,000 employees. It says on Wikipedia that Larian is a billionaire, the reason I ask is I did not see him listed on Forbes's list of billionaires, so is that a mistake (he is not a billionaire?), or did Forbes just miss him...? I also ask because it seems some confuse being a billionaire with owning a billion (or multibillion) dollar company. So even though MGA had revenues of $2 billion alone in 2006, would that have been enough to make Larian himself a billionaire?

I figure if on average the 1000 employees are paid $50,000 a piece, that would be around $50 million needed to pay for them, and if on average $100,000 is paid, that would be about $100 million (though I doubt it's that much when averaged) but I have no idea what would be needed to pay for manufacturing the toys themselves. If altogether it was under $1 billion, then I could see Larian keeping the other billion for himself.

Anyone know anymore?

This is what I found on Wikipedia.

Isaac Larian (Persian: اسحاق لاریان, born March 28, 1954 in Kashan, Iran) is the Chief Executive Officer of MGA Entertainment, the biggest privately owned toy company in the world. He was born in Iran to Persian Jewish parents.
Larian arrived from Iran alone at the age of 17 and after graduating from CSULA in civil engineering, he started a business exporting electronic goods. He later in 2000 expanded their company to include the creation, development and marketing of the Bratz doll. Two of the dolls bear the names of his children, son Cameron and daughter Jasmin (although her doll uses the Persian spelling Yasmin). Currently his third child doesn't have a Bratz doll, but that can change with the next release. Larian has 3 sisters and one brother. Around 2000, he got in a lawsuit with his brother, Farhad Larian. Isaac Larians wife's name is Angela Neman.
He was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" (Consumer Products category) by Ernst & Young in 2004. He was also named the overall national "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Ernst & Young in 2007. His motto, "Fortune favors the bold" is displayed throughout MGA's building.

The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(May 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. On February 12, 2008, Mr. Larian laid off more than 50 employees from the Los Angeles office due to restructuring. He is a billionaire.



So I can't vouch on whether it is true or not. (he is a billionaire). We'll find out when that yearly Forbes' issue comes out that lists every billionaire. (I forget the title)