Before the college admission bribery scandal broke out, Mossimo Giannulli was as lowkey as a public figure can get. He managed his eponymous brand and seemingly had the perfect family in his actress wife Lori Loughlin and their two daughters.
But the revelations of his involvement in Operation Varsity Blues practically turned his life upside down and divulged details of his life he wouldn’t want the public to know.
Telling Beginnings
Mossimo himself didn’t get to finish his education at the University of Southern California (USC), the same school he allegedly bribed his daughters’ ways into.
He dropped out of the university to focus on his then-budding beachwear brand with a $100,000 start from his father. Sound like the beginning of your typical business success story, right?
Well, not entirely. Apparently, Giannulli resorted to faking report cards to trick his parents into giving him money for school not telling them he’s already dropped out.
That’s where the $100,000 capital actually came from, according to allegations.
Subsequent Successes
Luckily for the designer, his risks paid off as his brand took off. Mossimo was even able to record $32 million in the early ‘90s, a time when a recession slowed down the retail industry.
By 1996, Giannulli led his company in going public. He was just 32 years old then and was among the youngest to head a publicly-traded company.
Despite some hiccups along the way, Mossimo managed to become a mainstay in various clothing stores throughout the years. It even scored a deal with Target in 2000 that earned Giannulli $27.8 million upfront.
He eventually sold the company to the Iconix Brand Group in 2006.
Bribery Scandal Involvement
Thanks to his successes, Giannulli and his family have lived a very charmed life. Perhaps wanting his children to have what he never did get, a degree from USC, he set out to do everything he can to get his daughters Isabella Rose and Olivia Jade into the university.
He and his wife are now facing charges regarding their alleged bribing of college officials to ensure their children’s admission as varsity rowers. The couple reportedly spent a total of $500,000 and succeeded to score Isabella Rose and Olivia Jade spots at USC.
After over a year of legal battles, Giannulli has been sentenced to serve five months in prison and pay a fine of $250,000.
