Ecko Company

Marc Ecko (born 1972) is an American entrepreneur and founder of the highly successful Marc Ecko clothing line and its parent company Marc Ecko Enterprises.

His businesses range from magazines, to fashion lines such as Avirex, G-Unit (folded in 2008), Marc Ecko Cut & Sew, and an interactive entertainment and other diverse interests.

Biography

Born Marc Milecofsky in East Brunswick, New Jersey, Ecko was raised in a Jewish middle-class family of Polish descent in Lakewood, New Jersey. His mother was a real estate broker and his father was a pharmacist. He has older sister Shari as well as a twin sister. He is also an alumnus of Rutgers University.

Ecko resides in Bernardsville, New Jersey with his wife Allison Rojas, whom he married in October 2000. They have three children.

Career

He started selling T-shirts in the mid 1980s, and founded his clothing brand eckō in 1993.

Marc Ecko Enterprises has grown to include many separate *eckō unltd. apparel and accessories lines, the contemporary Marc Ecko “Cut & Sew” collection (clothing line similar to Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale and Hollister), G-Unit Clothing Company (folded in 2008), Avirex Sportswear, Complex magazine, and Marc Ecko Entertainment, a full service production company, with a focus on interactive entertainment.

In 2004, Marc Ecko Enterprises reported international sales of approximately $1 billion. The Company also signed a deal about 2 years ago with MTV Films for the film adaptation of Marc Ecko's first videogame project, "Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure". Ecko Enterprises signed a fragrance licensing agreement with Parlux Fragrances, maker of Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson branded perfumes.

Ecko has been included in New York magazine’s “Influentials” list, Detail magazine's list of “Most Powerful Men Under 38”, DNR’s “Power 100 List” Crain’s New York Business “40 Under 40” list, and JVibe magazine's "Hot List".

Philanthropy

Over all the years, Ecko has also dedicated himself to a number of socially conscious initiatives. Ecko Unlimited annually writes off all of the expenses of Tikvah Children’s Home, a Jewish orphanage in Ukraine that prepares its young boys and girls to make aliyah (move to Israel) at age 16. He has also funded a mitzvah walk at particular synagogues in New York State to help raise awareness and money for his Children's Home fund and trying to help reverse the plight of the world's rhinoceros population. In 2005, the San Diego Zoo named a baby Indian rhino after the designer in honor of his work with the International Rhino. In June 2005 he hosted the second annual "Save the Rhinos" benefit concert in New York's Central Park. In October 2006, Marc Ecko purchased two white rhinos being auctioned by a private zoo going out of business in the Catskills, saving them the likely fate of being purchased by canned hunt operators and being shot by paying visitors.

Marc was the first recipient of the Stoked Awards honoring outstanding achievement and accomplishments in life.

Barry Bonds home run record ball

In September 2007, Ecko was the winning bidder in the auction for Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th home run ball, paying $752,467 for it. To determine the fate of the ball, he started a website, www.vote756.com , which let visitors vote on what they think should happen to it. Visitors' choices were giving the ball to the Hall of Fame, branding the ball with an asterisk before giving it to the Hall of Fame, and putting the ball on a rocket to be launched into space. Over 10,000,000 votes were tallied in all.

On September 26th, 2007, on The Today Show, Ecko revealed that the public, voting with a 47% plurality, wanted to brand the ball with an asterisk and send it to Cooperstown. 34% wanted the ball sent to the Hall of Fame without an asterisk and only 19% wanted the ball to be shot into space.

In reaction to the result of the vote, Dale Petroskey, the President of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame stated that, although he was "delighted to have the ball," the acceptance of the ball with an asterisk on it did not mean that Cooperstown believes that Bonds used performance-enhancing drugs to obtain his record.

Public reaction to Ecko's idea has been largely mixed.

A few news columnists and newspaper bloggers have been in favor of Ecko's idea. Bob DiCesare of the Buffalo News hailed Ecko and said that the site was a "brilliant idea" and "advertising genius". DiCesare also made light of a recent ESPN online poll that showed almost 80 percent of 70,000 voters divided over whether to send the ball to Cooperstown marked or unmarked but said that only 20 percent had voted to shoot it into space. Tim Dahlberg of Associated Press Sports also praised Ecko and said that while he believes the whole thing may be a giant hoax (referring to Ecko's famous spray-painting of the supposedly "real" Air Force One), his vote is "for branding the ball with an asterisk — and then shooting it into space."

A few others have either dismissed Ecko or have voted that the ball go straight to the Hall of Fame with or without any tampering. Matt Murphy, the man who originally caught the ball and sold it in the auction, said that he is voting to send the ball, unblemished, to the Hall of Fame. He added that, despite all that Bonds has been accused of, at the moment, the baseball "does not belong in outer space." The Cooperstown Hall of Fame spokesman, Jeff Idelson, said that they would "be absolutely elated" to obtain the baseball, marked or unmarked, adding that, "If it carries an asterisk, so be it." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed simply called Ecko a copycat for parroting Grant DePorter of Harry Caray's Restaurant Group. DePorter purchased the infamous Bartman Ball for $113,824.16 in 2003 and, like Ecko, asked the fans to vote on the ball's fate which included putting the ball on a rocket and launching it into space.

Barry Bonds himself responded, calling Ecko "stupid" and an "idiot." He also remarked that Ecko's idea was "stupid" as well, rhetorically asking, "He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it?" Ecko had no statement about Bonds' remarks but jokingly offered to design him a t-shirt that reads: “Marc Ecko paid $752,467 for my ball, and all I got was this ’stupid’ T-shirt.’”

A few days later, on his blog, Washington Wizards point guard, Gilbert Arenas, offered to buy the ball from Ecko. Arenas said that he wasn't going to let Ecko "act like a superhero" and "mess up history." Arenas claimed that he was willing to pay $800,000 for it and that, if Bonds was found guilty, he would give the ball back to Ecko to brand with an asterisk.

In November 2007, when asked about the decision to brand an asterisk on the baseball, Barry Bonds told the press that if the Hall of Fame tried to induct him, he would not attend the ceremony. While the Hall stated that, by displaying the baseball, they were not endorsing the viewpoint that Bonds took steroids, Bonds still held his ground, saying, "I will never be in the Hall of Fame. Never...Barry Bonds will not be there." But while he made his intentions of the boycott known, Bonds did admit that his emotions on the subject were running high and that he would maybe "reconsider" his decision.

In mid-2008, it was reported that Marc Ecko had backed off on his initial promise to donate the ball and instead said he just wanted to loan the ball to the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame said that talks between themselves and Ecko had broken down. In a statement, a Hall of Fame spokesman said, "The owner's previous commitment to unconditionally donate the baseball has changed to a loan. As a result, the Hall of Fame will not be able to accept the baseball,"

Ecko responded with some surprise, saying he had been unaware that the Hall of Fame had changed their minds. Ecko added that the only thing that he and the Hall of Fame had left to discuss was the indication that they might be uncomfortable with dealing with the steroid controversy by displaying the baseball in the first place.

However, as of July 1, 2008, Marc Ecko finally agreed to donate the ball, unconditionally, with the asterisk branded onto it. Hall of Fame spokesman, Brad Horn expressed his delight in having the ball donated, adding, “We look forward to adding this ball to our permanent collections.”

See also

• Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure

References

1. ^ Janelle Griffith (8 February 2008). "50 Gear G-Unit Clothing Officially Folds". SOHH.com . Accessed 10 February 2008.
2. ^ ^{a b} Walker, Rob. Cul-de-Sac Cred, The New York Times Magazine , July 10, 2005. Accessed January 13, 2008. "Marc Milecofsky grew up in Lakewood, N.J., about an hour and a half south of Manhattan."
3. ^ "The fact that a 35-year-old, Jewish father of three is also one of hip-hop culture's style mavens..." from " 'Gotta Be Cool': Marc Ecko's Empire", report by Nick Rozon and Dan Harris for Nightline, September 12, 2007
4. ^ Rockland, Kate. "BY THE WAY; A Monument to Sagging", The New York Times , June 12, 2006. Accessed January 3, 2008.
5. ^ IN PERSON; He Discovered the Antidote to Pharmacy School>
6. ^ Janelle Griffith (8 February 2008). "50 Gear G-Unit Clothing Officially Folds". SOHH.com . Accessed 10 February 2008.

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