Peter Nygård

Peter J. Nygård (born Pekka Juhani Nygård; born 24 July 1941) is a Finnish-Canadian businessman and former fashion executive.

Peter Nygård was born Pekka Juhani Nygård in Helsinki, Finland, on 24 July 1941.

His parents immigrated to Deloraine, Manitoba, Canada, in 1952, when Nygård was around eleven years old.

In 1964, Nygård graduated from the University of North Dakota with a business degree.

In 1967 he founded Nygård International, a Winnipeg-based company that initially was a sportswear manufacturer before producing women's apparel.

Nygård established Nygård Apparel Manufacturing Company, later rebranded Nygård International, in Winnipeg in 1967.

In 1978, Nygård's takeover of a sportswear designer's business in New York City led to a 12-year legal battle in New York federal court.

The company produced clothing under brand names such as Nygård Fashions, Nygard Slims, Bianca Nygard, ADX, TanJay, Alia, and Allison Daley.

The company's Canadian headquarters was located on King Street in Toronto, Ontario, while its world headquarters was located in Times Square, New York, New York, United States.

He was rated the 70th richest Canadian by Canadian Business Magazine in 2009, with a net worth of C$817 million, while in 2017 his net worth was estimated to be C$900 million.

Times Square was also the location of Nygård's fashion concept retail store, which opened on Friday, 6 November 2009.

In 2015 and 2017, Nygård was investigated by the FBI over claims of sex trafficking.

He was also investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security for 9 months in 2016.

On 24 November 2019, Bahamian police began investigating six allegations of sexual assault made against Nygård.

All the alleged victims were under 16 at the time of the alleged assaults.

In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) carried out a search warrant of Nygård's offices in New York City after he was accused of sex trafficking, sexual assault and racketeering.

As a result, Nygård stepped down as chairman of Nygård International soon afterwards.

The company then filed for bankruptcy later that year.

In December 2020, Nygård was formally charged on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, including allegations of sex trafficking involving minors.

In October 2021 he was again charged in Canada with multiple counts of sexual assault and forcible confinement in incidents that occurred between the mid-1980s and mid-2000s; accusations of sexual misconduct by Nygård date as far back as 1968.

In November 2023, a Canadian court convicted Nygård of four counts of sexual assault.

Nygård's personal net-worth was estimated at $900 million in 2020.

In February 2020, the headquarters of Nygård International was raided as part of a sex trafficking investigation against Nygård by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

After these, Nygård announced that he would step down from the company and divest his ownership interest.

In March 2020, a judge said that there was no evidence Nygård had actually resigned, and that he still owned 100% of the shares of the Nygård group of companies.

The company filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York on 18 March 2020, and a Manitoba judge ordered a group of Nygård companies into receivership the following day.

On 30 April, a Canadian judge authorized an accounting firm to sell off part of the business.

Over the years Nygård has been accused numerous times of abuse including forcible confinement, sex trafficking, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Additionally, on 27 January 2020, Nygård faced two separate lawsuits after being accused of sexual assault.

On 13 February 2020, 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit against Nygård in New York, alleging that he had sexually assaulted them at his Bahamas residence.Multiple sources:

On 14 February 2020, it was reported that the Bahamian police were investigating the allegations made by four of the women in the class-action suit.

On 25 February 2020, the New York headquarters of Nygård International were raided by the FBI and the New York City Police Department in connection with sex trafficking claims.

On 20 April 2020, 36 new women joined the class-action suit, bringing the total number of plaintiffs in the sexual assault case to 46.

On 17 June 2020, it was reported that 11 more women had joined the class-action lawsuit, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 57.

On 9 July 2020, Nygård filed a motion to dismiss the claims of 52 of the plaintiffs, stating that "numerous deficiencies" barred their claims, and in particular that the claims of 50 of the plaintiffs lacked any connection to New York.

He also argued that the statute of limitations had expired for 38 of the plaintiffs.

On 17 August 2020, Nygård was sued by two of his sons on accusations that Nygård directed a known sex worker, said to be "his girlfriend," to sexually assault them.

On 22 August 2020, it was reported that the class-action suit had been placed on hold due to the US government having requested a stay of proceedings while the criminal investigation was ongoing.

On 15 December 2020, Nygård was arrested in Winnipeg for extradition to the US to face charges of sex trafficking by the US attorney's office in Manhattan.

On 5 February 2021, Nygård was denied bail and faced extradition to the US.