Peter Nygard

Peter J. Nygård (né Pekka Juhani Nygård) is a Finnish-Canadian former fashion executive. He founded Nygård International, a company that makes women's apparel, in 1967. He resigned as chairman in February 2020 after FBI raided company headquarters in its investigation of sex trafficking accusations against him by multiple women. Nygård was arrested on sex trafficking and racketeering charges in December of the same year. He was rated the 70th richest Canadian by Canadian Business Magazine in 2009 with a net worth of $817 million.

Early life and education

Nygård was born on July 24, 1941 in Helsinki, Finland. His parents were Eeli and Hilkka Nygård, bakers who immigrated to Canada in 1952, settling at first in Deloraine, Manitoba (where Nygård Park would later be named in his honour in 2002). They moved shortly after to Winnipeg.

In 1964, he graduated from the University of North Dakota with a business degree.

Nygård International

Nygård apparel manufacturing company was founded in 1967 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its Canadian headquarters is located on King Street in Toronto, with its world headquarters in Times Square, New York. Nygård's fashion concept retail store opened in Times Square in Manhattan on Friday, November 6, 2009.

On February 25, 2020, Nygård stepped down as chairman of Nygård International, after its headquarters was raided in connection to sex trafficking claims. The company filed for Chapter 15 Bankruptcy in New York on March 18, 2020 and a Manitoba judge has ordered a group of Nygård companies into receivership on March 19, 2020. On April 30, 2020, a Canadian judge has given the green light to an accounting firm to sell and liquidate part of the business empire.

Nygård Cay

In 1987, Nygård built a 14,000-square-metre (150,000 sq ft) compound at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. It was partly destroyed by a fire on November 10, 2009. The Cay is inspired by the Mayan civilization’s architecture. One of the major buildings is a 3,000-square-metre (32,000 sq ft) grand-hall with a 45-tonne (100,000 lb) glass ceiling.

On April 14, 2010, Nygård announced he was planning a $50 million renovation of Nygård Cay, which would take two years to complete and repair the damage and employ 200 construction workers. But a letter from the Bahamian prime minister's office rejected his construction application, citing the improper expansion of his property through intentional accretion of land over the seabed.

Prominent figures have visited Nygard Cay over the years include Michael Jackson, George H. W. Bush, Robert De Niro, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York. The house has been featured in the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous television series and has been described as a resort with guests paying $42,000 a night in 2009 to stay there.

On September 28, 2018, Nygård Cay was seized by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas as part of a legal battle surrounding Nygård’s efforts to dredge the sea floor around the estate.

Charity

Nygård has supported the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Nygård has been a longtime sponsor of amateur sports in the Bahamas. In June 2010, he was the main sponsor of Amateur Boxing Federation of the Bahamas team for Continental Elite Boxing Championships invitation-only event in Quito, Ecuador. Wellington Miller, the president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, said Nygård has contributed significantly to the Amateur Boxing Association of the Bahamas and their Olympic success.

In April 2011, Nygård held the "2011 National Family Island Regatta" at Nygård Cay, which included a press conference to honor Bahamian musician "King" Eric Gibson. In the same month, Nygård also donated $10,000 to Josie Poitier, a member of Old Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, during a Passover/Good Friday breakfast/brunch.

Feud with Louis Bacon

In 2005, Nygård attempted to solve a parking overflow problem at Nygård Cay by laying down a 15-by-20-foot concrete slab on Louis Bacon's property. Bacon responded to this, suing Nygård and obtaining a court injunction to remove it. Two years later in 2007, Bacon installed industrial-grade speakers at the edge of his property and pointed them at Nygård's house at night due to Bacon's complaints of noise at Nygård's house. In summer 2010, Bacon's house was raided by 11 Bahamian police officers, leading to the confiscation of the speakers, Bacon claimed it was the work of Nygård, a claim he denied. It has been said Nygård used fake news sites and YouTube videos to smear Bacon as a person who ran an international drug-smuggling operation, a member of the KKK, having been charged with insider trading, and being involved in murdering the Point House caretaker, Dan Tuckfield, after commissioning him to set the fire at Nygård Cay. (Truckfield actually died of a heart attack.) In January 2015, Bacon filed a defamation lawsuit against Nygård over these claims.

Personal life

Nygård has seven children with four women. Nygård was briefly married to Carol Knight in the 1970s. Nygård is said to have dated Anna Nicole Smith from 1998 to 2001.

On December 15, 2020, Nygård was arrested in Winnipeg under the Extradition Act.

Honours

In 2012 Nygård was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[70] In 2002, Deloraine, Manitoba where Nygård grew up unveiled a commemorative plaque and named a park in his honour. In May 2020, the parks name was changed to Prairie Sentinels Park, after Nygård was subject to controversy for sex trafficking and rape allegations.

In popular culture

Documentaries

On December 17, 2020, two days after Nygård's arrest it was reported that Discovery+ was releasing a series about Peter Nygård's life titled Unseamly: The Investigation of Peter Nygård. Which will feature interviews with journalists, attorneys, family members and former employees of Nygård. It is scheduled for release on February 12, 2021.

Literature

In 2011, author and former politician Linda McIntosh published a book titled Child of Lamposaari: The Inspiring Story of Hilkka. The book commemorates the life of Nygård's mother Hilkka and discusses the early life of Nygård.

Peter Nygård

Peter J. Nygård (alk. Pekka Juhani Nygård) on Suomessa syntynyt liikemies, joka nykyisin on Kanadan kansalainen. Hän oli perustamansa Nygard International -yhtiön hallituksen puheenjohtaja, kunnes syytökset raiskauksista ja ahdistelusta pakottivat hänet väistymään tehtävistään helmikuussa 2020. Nygård asuu pääasiassa Bahamalla, mutta hänellä on asunto myös ainakin Los Angelesissa ja Winnipegissä. Henkilökohtaisen omaisuuden arvoksi arvioitiin vuonna 2014 noin 944 miljoonaa Kanadan dollaria. New York Timesin mukaan Nygårdilla on kymmenen lasta kahdeksan eri naisen kanssa, mutta hän kertonut ainoastaan seitsemästä lapsesta neljän eri naisen kanssa.

Lapsuus ja koulutus

Peter Nygård muutti lapsena sisarensa Liisan ja vanhempiensa Eeli ja Hilkka Nygårdin mukana Kanadaan. Vanhemmat olivat työskennelleet Helsingin Osuuskaupan palveluksessa ja perustivat 1952 Winnipegiin leipomon, jolla oli aluksi vaikeuksia mutta joka sitten alkoi menestyä niin hyvin, että lapsille oli varaa hankkia yliopistokoulutus. Peter Nygårdilla on liiketalouden tutkinto Pohjois-Dakotan yliopistosta Yhdysvalloista.

Ura

Nygård aloitti liiketoimintansa joulukuussa 1967 sijoittamalla säästönsä ja 8 000 Kanadan dollarin lainan 20 prosentin osuuteen Nathan Jacobs-naistenvaatevalmistajasta. Muutamaa vuotta myöhemmin hän omisti yhtiön kokonaan ja nimesi sen uudelleen 'Tan Jay Internationaliksi'. Nygard Apparel-yhtiö perustettiin vuonna 1967 Kanadassa Winnipegissä, ja sen pääkonttori on nykyisin Kanadassa Torontossa. Yhtiön liikevaihdoksi oletetaan noin miljardi Kanadan dollaria.

Nygård International (yhtiö)

Nygård perusti vuonna 1967 Winnipegissä Nygård Internationalin, joka keskittyy aloitti urheiluvaatteiden valmistukseen. Yritys laajeni vuonna 1978 Yhdysvaltoihin, ja vuonna 1987 Per Nygård avasi yrityksen kansainvälisen myynti- ja markkinointiryhmän Torontossa.

Yhtiö on hakeutunut yrityssaneeraukseen maaliskuussa 2020 Peter Nygårdiin kohdistuvien vakavien syytösten vuoksi ja haki itsensä konkurssiin (Chapter 15) New Yorkissa 18.3.2020.

Nygård Cay

Nygård osti Bahamasaarten New Providence -saarelta niemenkärjen vuonna 1987 ja alkoi rakentaa sinne kartanoa ja yksityistä lomakeskusta. Kompleksi paloi maan tasalle 11. marraskuuta 2009. Tulipalon syytä ei saatu selville, mutta sen arveltiin alkaneen sähkölaitteista. Päärakennus oli rakennettu mayatemppeleiden tyyliin, ja sitä ympäröi yli 20 vierasmajaa, tennis-, koripallo- ja lentopallokentät, sata metriä hiekkarantaa sekä suuri uima-allas, jossa polskivia vieraita saattoi ihailla diskon ja saunan lasiseinien läpi. Kotiteatterissa oli 24 istumapaikkaa, ja siellä pystyi katselemaan kolmea elokuvaa samanaikaisesti. Nygård Cay oli vuokrattavissa 42 000 Yhdysvaltain dollarin päivähinnasta.

Nygård on ollut julkisuudessa muun muassa asunnollaan Bahamasaarilla järjestettyjen juhlien vuoksi. Suomalaisista hänen vierainaan ovat olleet ainakin Tanja Karpela, Arja Koriseva, Kata Kärkkäinen, Janina Frostell ja Carmen Mäkinen.

Kiinteistö otettiin valtion haltuun 28. syyskuuta 2018, koska Nygård ei ollut maksanut hänelle määrättyjä oikeudenkäyntikuluja, jotka olivat aiheutuneet hänen tekemistään lahdenpohjan laittomista muutoksista.

Palkinnot ja huomionosoitukset

• Sioux Award (Outstanding Alumni), University of North Dakota (1978)
• Patriot Award, The Royal Military Institute (2002)
• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2003)
• Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, University of North Dakota (2004)
• Best of Scene Award, Dallas Fashion Awards (2004)
• Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013)