Dov Charney

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A photo of Charney from 2006

Dov Charney (born January 31, 1969 in Montreal) is the CEO of the garment company American Apparel (AA), a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer that makes all of its garments in a downtown Los Angeles factory, now the single largest clothing manufacturing plant in the United States. American Apparel employs nearly five thousand workers, most of whom make at least twice the minimum wage. American Apparel now has over 125 retail outlets with plans of expansion. In December of 2006, American Apparel announced that it would be going public through a "blank check" [1]acquisition deal with Endeavor Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Charney will maintain leadership of the listed company that will result, with individual employees from all areas of the company expected to receive around 500 shares each in publicly traded stock.

Dov Charney was raised in Quebec to Jewish Canadian parents, although he is an atheist.^[1] In addition to his business exploits, Charney is also a noted libertine and active advocate of free speech and freedom of expression.

He attended Tufts University, but left the school before graduating. He started an apparel company in 1989 in Columbia, South Carolina, but the business went bankrupt in 1996. He founded the new version of American Apparel in 1998. ^[2]

Charney is a controversial figure, having had several consensual sexual relationships with employees. ^[3] In 2005 three former employees filed sexual harassment suits against him. Two of the lawsuits have since been dismissed. He is also accused of conducting job interviews in his underwear and giving employees vibrators. ^[4]

In 2004 Charney received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times Magazine included Charney in its list of the “100 Most Powerful People of Southern California,” and in the same year Details magazine listed him in its “Power 50," recognizing the 50 most powerful people under 42.

His uncle is the Israeli architect Moshe Safdie.^[1]