- Online retailer Revolve Group recently went public and is set to create a $1.5 billion fortune for co-CEOs Mike Karanikolas and Michael Mente
Revolve Group — an online retailer that sells around 1,000 new fashion products every week and drops new arrivals regularly — has been one of the best-performing IPOs this year. And it has created a $1.5 billion fortune for the founders and co-CEOs Mike Karanikolas and Michael Mente, according to Bloomberg.
Essentially, Revolve promotes its frequently changing lineup of fashions through a network of around 3,500 social media influencers including fashion celebrity icon Kendall Jenner. Mente oversees marketing and fashion products while Karanikolas handles technology and logistics.
Ever since Revolve went public on June 6, it more than doubled giving the company a market value of more than $2.6 billion. Karanikolas and Mente have a combined 56% stake in Revolve and control over two-thirds of the company’s voting shares through a separate entity called MMMK Development. And Mente owns an additional 1.4% stake outside of MMMK, according to a regulatory filing via Bloomberg.
Prior to launching Revolve in 2003, Karanikolas and Mente worked at a software company called NextStrat. And the two of them saw the potential for online fashion sales so they spent the past few years convincing fashion companies to allow them to sell their products on Revolve. And they added their own product lines since then. Around 79% of the products sell at full price, according to the filing.
Revolve’s net income increased nearly fivefold last year to $30.7 million on revenue of $499 million. And a number of analysts on Wall Street gave buy ratings for Revolve last week due the company’s financial performance, marketing strategy with influencers, and international expansion.
