Dara Mir is an Iranian-American entrepreneur with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He is the co-founder and CEO of Leapfrog, Inc., a company that develops and sells the leading technology in the educational toy market, with products sold in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Early Life and Education
Dara Mir was born in Tehran, Iran, and graduated from high school in 2000. He attended college at the University of Southern California. While he was a student, he worked full-time at a toy store to help support his family following the death of his father.
In 2003, Mir graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Finance and was awarded “Top Graduate Student” by the university president for earning high marks throughout his undergraduate work.
Career
Mir’s professional career began at Mattel, where he was employed for four years. After he left Mattel, he worked at LeapFrog. He was promoted to COO in 2008 and became the CEO in 2010.
Mir helped create LeapFrog’s Business strategy and has established new international relationships that have since allowed the company to expand into 70 different countries; the company has also seen triple-digit revenue growth during his tenure as CEO.
In 2011, he became a member of the Board of Directors, and in 2012 the Board elected him as CEO. Through his strategic leadership, LeapFrog has become a prominent figure in the educational toy industry, with its products sold in more than 70 countries worldwide.
In addition to his business roles, Mir is also a member of the USC Marshall School of Business Graduate Advisory Committee.
In 2015, Mir was announced as a featured speaker at the Women’s Empowerment Forum in Dubai. In 2016, Mir was also named as one of Fortune ‘s 10 Business Executives to Follow on Twitter, and one of TIME’s 30 Under 30.
In 2017, he was recognized as a Top CEO by the Orange County Business Journal
Personal Life
Mir is married to his wife, Amy, and they have two daughters.
Controversy
Mir has been involved in several stock-related controversies. In 2014, Mir was accused of insider trading when he bought Microsoft’s stock at an above average price—reportedly the same day that the company announced its acquisition of Nokia.
A report released in March 2015 by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) determined that Mir had made illegal trades based on his personal knowledge of Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia, but did not find evidence that he committed insider trading.
In 2015, Mir was suspended for two weeks after he made a complaint to the SEC that the company was getting bad news from a bank analyst.
In 2016, LeapFrog’s shares fell by 22% over a one-week period following a report that it had declared its first quarterly loss in 10 years. The stock subsequently recovered and rose more than 70% over the following six months.
Outside of business, Mir is an avid photographer. He has photographed celebrities such as Jay Leno, Jay Williams, and Donald Trump. Mir also owns several sports cars including a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Coupe, a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport Coupe and a Ferrari 599XX.
