James S. Davis (born May 17, 1943) is an American billionaire businessman, the owner and chairman of New Balance, and an early investor in Major League Lacrosse.
[4] He attended Worcester Academy, and he received a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Middlebury College in 1966.
In 1972, he bought New Balance, then only a 6-employee firm in Boston, and turned it into a 4,000-employee global corporation with revenues averaging around $2.5 billion every year.
[11] In an interview given to Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Germano on the day following the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, a New Balance senior executive suggested support for Trump due to his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Widely reported social-media reaction documented numerous New Balance owners destroying or disposing of their shoes—with many pledging lifetime boycotts of the company.