A few weeks ago, H. Ty Warner walked into Your Remnant Store in downtown Santa Barbara. The small shop’s new owners and their weekend customers snapped to attention.
There was no entourage or security detail, just a quiet, 70-year-old toymaker obsessed with fabric. But he commanded a presence available only to titans of industry who’ve cultivated their wealth as carefully as their mystique. When he was young, Warner, now worth more than $2.5 billion, read a biography of Howard Hughes and decided he wanted to earn and live like the reclusive tycoon.
As he sifted through bolts of paisley and plush with the same perfectionist scrutiny he gave to the Beanie Babies that made him rich — maybe this time choosing upholstery for the Montecito hotels he owns and sometimes micromanages, or the nearby $200 million estate he routinely remodels — Warner was approached by Hillary Hauser.
