Billionaire 1

Billionaire 3

Billionaire 4

Billionaire 5

Billioniare 7

Billioniare 8

Many thanks to Allan for sharing his photos of the Billionaire Bears!

Some Beanies were never available to the general public - they were never on sale at retail. One such group are the Beanies who were given away free to Ty Inc. Employees and to the sales representatives. These were all extremely limited in number, and still fetch three or four figures when they go on sale at eBay or the like. Buying such a Beanie should always be undertaken with care and caution, as with any valuable Beanie there are many counterfeits about.

The first of the Rep and Employee Beanies was Employee the Bear, introduced in Autumnf 1997. Employee is actually a new faced violet bear wearing either are red or a green ribbon (150 of each were produced). These were given away to Ty Employees at the Second Annual Appreciation night. Employee bears have neither birthday, poem or style number as they do not have a hang tag - the only Beanie ever available without one!

Billionaire Bear was the next employee bear - introduced to the world in Autumn1998. An estimated 600 were given away to Ty employees at a staff party at the Oakbrook Polo club in Chicago. Billionaire bear is dark brown with a green dollar sign on his chest. All the hang tags are signed by Ty Warner.

Next up, in December of the same year was #1 Bear (Number One Bear). He was given to Ty Sales Representatives at a Sales Conference at the Fairmount Hotel in Chicago. Along with the Bear the Reps also received a whole heap of other goodies. There were 253 #1 Bears made, all signed by Ty Warner. #1 Bear is red with a white '#1' embroider on his chest.

In Autumn 1999 Billionaire Bear 2  was given away to employees. This marked the start of an annual tradition which continues to Autumn 2008 with Billionaire 11!

Billionaire 2 is a purple bear, with 2 green dollar signs on his chest. He was given to company employees at the staff picnic held at Oakbrook Bath and Tennis Club. There are 475 of these bears, all signed by Ty Warner.

2000 saw the introduction of Billionaire Bear 3 at a party held at the Field Museum in Chicago. An estimated 650 of this bear were given away to employees, along with a bag of heart shaped chocolates. Billioniare 3 is bright (very bright!) orange with a purple dollar sign on his chest, and a pretty purple bow around the neck. This bear was introduced by CFO, Michael W. Kanzler as Ty Warner was not present at the party.

2001 brought Billionaire Bear 4 at the company's party held at Grand Ballroom at the Navy Pier in Illinois. Billionaire 4 is a light brown in colour with a gold dollar sign and a number 4 on his chest, a matching gold ribbon around his neck. There are 762 of this bear, all signed by Ty.

Billionaire Bear 5 was released in 2002 at Ty Inc.'s annual event held at the Maryville City of Youth. He is a pale blue/green/violet bear with an orange dollar sign and the number 5 on his chest. The ribbon is a darker shade of orange. There were 769 of these bears available.

Billionaire Bear 6 was released in 2003. The fabric on this bear is sort of Ty-dye (like Bidder the Bear and the second set of Asia-Pacifics). He has a green dollar sign with the number 6 on his chest. There were 696 signed bears given away.

2004 saw the advent of Billionaire Bear 7 given out to Ty employees. This bear is dark blue with shiny red fireworks all over the body! He has a red dollar sign with the number 7 on his chest. Only 612 were given away.

Next in 2005 came Billionaire Bear 8. This bear is green with a gold dollar sign on his chest, and the number 8 in roman numerals. According to the signed and numbered hang tag there are only 480 of this bear.

2006 brought Billionaire Bear 9. This bear is red (with gold glints) and a gold dollar sign on his chest, and the number 9 written beneath.There are again 480 of this bear.

2007 saw the advent of Billionaire Bear 10, which is a pink bear with a purple dollar sign accompanied by the number 10 on his chest. There were 457 of this bear.

The most recent bear, released in 2008 is Billionaire 11, this is a very pale blue bear with a dollar sign and the number 11 embroidered in gold on his chest. 469 of these were given away.