John Paul DeJoria's story is one of those ones that's almost hard to believe. He was homeless. Twice. Lived in his car, collected bottles and cans. And then he co-founded two separate billion-dollar companies. Paul Mitchell hair products and Patr贸n tequila.
He grew up in LA, dropped out of high school, joined the Navy, and spent years doing whatever work he could find. Janitor, door-to-door salesman, encyclopedia sales. In 1980 he and Paul Mitchell scraped together $700 to start a hair care company. The product was good, the branding was distinctive with those black and white bottles, and it caught on. Paul Mitchell grew into one of the biggest professional hair care brands in the world.
Then in 1989, DeJoria co-founded Patr贸n Spirits. At the time, most people didn't think of tequila as a premium spirit. DeJoria helped change that. Patr贸n basically created the ultra-premium tequila category and rode it all the way. Bacardi acquired Patr贸n in 2018 for $5.1 billion.
He's also a serious philanthropist. He's given away huge amounts of money to causes ranging from homelessness to environmental issues, which makes sense when you consider where he started.
On Shark Tank as a guest shark, DeJoria brings a bootstrapper's perspective that nobody else on the panel can match. He's built consumer brands from literally nothing, no venture capital, no safety net. When he tells an entrepreneur he knows what it's like to have no money, he means it.
Some highlights:
- Co-founded Paul Mitchell with $700
- Co-founded Patr贸n Spirits, acquired by Bacardi for $5.1 billion
- Went from homelessness to billionaire status twice over
- Major philanthropist supporting causes from homelessness to the environment