Jeremy Padawer

Jeremy Padawer (born October 26, 1973) is an American businessman, founder, animated television producer, and broadly recognized toy industry executive and entrepreneur. Padawer is chief brand officer of Jazwares, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Prior to selling to Berkshire Hathaway (2022),^[1] Padawer's toy company Wicked Cool Toys was acquired by Jazwares and parent company Alleghany Corporation in 2019.^[2]

Jeremy Padawer
Born	(1973-10-26) October 26, 1973 (age 51) Germantown, Tennessee, US
Education	Germantown High School
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin (BA) University of Tennessee (JD) Vanderbilt University (MBA)
Occupation(s)	Businessman, television producer
Years active	1996–
Website	www.jeremy.com

Padawer co-created and executive produced the Nickelodeon animated series Monsuno which ran for 65 episodes from 2012-2015.

Early career

In 1996, Padawer developed a network of transactional toy and gaming websites. Padawer "gamed" the Yahoo search engine using simple naming strategies. By naming each one of his collectible websites starting with two A's, Padawer's sites would come up first in search. Advertisers included Disney, Onsale.com, and Amazon.com.^[3] Most notably, Newsweek followed Padawer's tracking of the plunge in Beanie Baby valuations in 1998–1999 on Padawer's AbsoluteBeanies.com.^[4]

Padawer is an early domain name investor. Padawer's sale of www.act.com to Symantec stands as one of the largest domain name transactions in history.^[5] Padawer purchased hundreds of generic .com domain names from 1996-2000 including his own first name (Jeremy.com), his city (PacificPalisades.com). Padawer utilized direct navigation traffic, aggregating hits for advertising dollars.

In addition, Padawer developed DomainAppraiser.com, a site that advised thousands of domain name holders on valuation (1999–2001), and Schmuck.com, an online monthly with material by amateur humorists and users (1998–2000).^[6][7]

Toy business

Mattel (2001-2003)

In 2001, Mattel recruited Padawer out of Vanderbilt University's MBA program.^[3] Padawer managed Hot Wheels, Nickelodeon brands, and a relaunch of Masters of the Universe.^[7]

Jakks Pacific (2003-2013)

In 2003, Padawer moved to Jakks Pacific, where he headed up boys' entertainment brands (2003-2009) before becoming EVP / GM of Jakks Malibu, the largest business unit at Jakks Pacific (2010-2013). Padawer reinvented the WWE toy line and over the next 10 years launched 30+ brands into the mass marketplace, including Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, Club Penguin, UFC, Neopets, SpongeBob SquarePants, Disney Princess, Winx Club, Nintendo, Disney Fairies, the Rocky franchise, Phineas and Ferb,^[7] and more.

Padawer was responsible for brand, marketing, product development, business development, and entertainment content development across all JAKKS Malibu business unit categories.^[8]

Wicked Cool Toys / Jazwares (2013-present)

In 2013, Padawer entered into a partnership in start-up Wicked Cool Toys as Co-CEO / President and Partner.^[9]

• The early years of Wicked Cool Toys focused on A-Level licenses with B-Level categories offering retail incremental margin on top brands like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, WWE, as well as a master toy license for The Wiggles.
• In the following years, WCT signed global deals with Wild Kratts (2014),^[10] Cabbage Patch Kids as master toy partner (2015),^[11] Girl Scouts Activity Oven (2015),^[12] and relaunched Teddy Ruxpin(2016).^[13]
• In May 2017, the Pokémon Company International announced it had become a strategic investor in Wicked Cool Toys and granted Wicked Cool Toys the global Pokémon toy license outside of Asia.^[14]
• In 2018-2019, WCT signed global licensing partnerships with Microsoft's HALO,^[15] All Elite Wrestling,^[16] Hasbro's Micro Machines^[17] and Cocomelon.

In October 2019, Jazwares, a subsidiary of Alleghany Capital Corporation (Y - NYSE), acquired Wicked Cool Toys.^[18]

In April 2020, Jazwares, with Padawer as equity partner, acquired KellyToy which includes the global phenomenon Squishmallows.^[19]

• The combined company, Jazwares, develops, manufactures, and markets toys and collectibles globally for Squishmallows, Hello Kitty, Pokémon, Fortnite, Roblox, Cocomelon, AEW, HALO, Spiderman and Friends as well as Star Wars and Marvel Halloween costumes and dress up, and much more.

In October 2022, Jazwares / Alleghany Capital was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway.^[20]

Padawer remained on as Chief Brand Officer at Jazwares, a top 5 toy company.^[21]

Entertainment development

Padawer is the co-creator and executive producer of the American-Japanese animated series Monsuno. The show premiered in the United States on February 23, 2012, on Nickelodeon's sister channel, Nicktoons,^[22][23] and on TV Tokyo in Japan in October 2012.^[24]

Padawer assembled a global strategic partnership between Jakks Pacific, Nickelodeon, Topps, Michael Eisner, and Fremantle Media.^[3]

Monsuno ran for 65 episodes (2012-2015) and is currently supported in syndication around the world.

Philanthropy

In 2010, Padawer was inducted into the ToyFare Magazine hall of fame.^[25][26]

Padawer is on the Toy Industry Association Board of Directors (2023).^[27]

Padawer is on Vanderbilt University's business school Alumni Board of Directors (2023).^[28]