A. J. Khubani

His father was an Indian immigrant and serial entrepreneur who eventually made enough money importing Japanese pocket-radios to move their family from their third-floor walkup in Union City, to a modest home in Lincoln Park.

He continued on to work as a teenage busboy at Marriott Hot Shoppes, and then as a pizza delivery man, earning a promotion to pizzeria manager while still in high school.

[6] While studying business administration at Montclair University, Khubani used his life savings, $20,000, to buy an ad in the National Enquirer advertising an AM/FM Walkman.

Khubani is the founder and CEO of Telebrands, a company that develops, markets, and distributes household items both direct-to-consumer and to major retail stores.

[10] Khubani created the “As Seen on TV” departments at retail; this category is the second-largest producer of nonpharmaceutical revenue at drugstores nationwide,[11] raking in approximately $350 billion annually.

[19] In 1996 Khubani reached settlements with the Federal Trade Commission resolving charges that they violated the FTC’s Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule resulting in a $95,000 civil penalty.

The complaint charged that the advertisements for the Telebrands “Ab Force” belt were false and deceptive in violation of Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act.

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said: "As demonstrated by its alleged actions, Telebrands cannot be trusted to do right by its customers or to even honor its own 2001 pledge to follow our consumer protection laws.

In 2014, Khubani received the Distinguished Alumni Award and delivered the keynote address to the graduates of Montclair University’s School of Business.

Khubani has received awards from Target (Excellence in Home Merchandising), CVS (Vendor of the Year),[30] Walmart, Dollar General, and many other retailers.