Tom Austin is one of the three co-founders of AND1, one of the most popular apparel brands in the late 90’s and early 2000s, know his net worth now in 2022
Currently, Tom is the CEO and co-founder of Masterchats, a wellness and fitness service headquartered in Los Angeles.
Know Who Is Tom Austin Co-Founder of AND1, Biography, Age, Family, Where Is He Now Today In 2022, Net Worth
The fact that the #AND1 players went from hood celebrities to actual celebrities with no equity or IP to show for it; shows that the owners (Seth Berger, Jay Coen Gilbert, Tom Austin) just them as "talent" & not as partners.#30For30 #TheGreatestMixtapeEver #streetball #business
— Professor P. @ MUL (@WinceP_ofMUL) June 1, 2022
UNTOLD Vol 2: The Rise and Fall of AND1. August 23rd, only on Netflix.pic.twitter.com/wFVb0iTr3N
— Strong Black Lead (@strongblacklead) August 23, 2022
Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, AND1 was one of the most dominant and outgoing brands in the basketball market.
Tom Austin And AND1 During The Early Years
AND1 initially started up as a small idea among three college students and eventually grew into a multi-million dollar operation.
Seth Berger and Jay Coen Gilbert were the two original co-founders. However, things took a wild and exciting turn when Tom Austin came on board. The three of them together came up with the idea of making a clothing line featuring commonly said catch phrases on the basketball court.
The trio started small at first, selling their shirts out of the back of their cars. Eventually, Tom Austin and his partners landed a deal with Foot Locker, which helped them get AND1 merchandise in stores. Following this, the company quickly built an entire culture based around hip-hop and streetball.
Recent documentaries on AND1 portray how the brand was such a huge cultural movement, but they missed the mark in so many areas and went off the market just like that.
Austin’s Contribution To The Company
All three of the co-founders played a part in the company’s success. Tom Austin, however, played a central role in the company’s success. Austin fell in love with what they were building, and they put everything into getting the brand into the mainstream.
Besides investing long hours of his time in the company’s growth, Tom Austin had multiple ideas that led to AND1 taking off the way it did. In fact, he was the one who came up with the thought of putting phrases on shirts to sell.
The T-shirts with phrases were an eye-catching product that escalated their sales and gave them a good solid start to their growth. Austin’s biggest contribution to AND1 was with their signature shoes. The trio decided to get into the sneaker game to compete with Nike.
But things did not run well for them. Stephon Marbury, who wore their first shoe in his NBA debut, had an awkward landing and hurt his ankle. Following the incident, Austin himself took charge of the design and production of AND1’s signature shoes.
Tom Austin’s AND1 models ended up becoming a major success, even among NBA players. Vince Carter even wore a pair of AND1 sneakers during his iconic dunk contest performance. Unfortunately for AND1, the All-Star forward signed an endorsement deal with Nike not long after.
Tom Austin’s Current Net Worth
Information on Tom Austin is very scarce. As such, his current net worth is unknown to the public but it is said to stand at $500,000. However, what we do know is that he currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of Masterchats.
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