[1] He immigrated to the United States with his family as a baby in 1901 where he grew up poor in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
[1][2] Koret moved to San Francisco at age 17,[1] began working for his father's men's clothing company.
[3] Due to a series of unsuccessful corporate acquisitions the company was near bankruptcy in 1973, when the Korets convinced their friend, Tad Taube, to take over as CEO.
[2] After a series of expansions, divestitures, and a public offering,[3] Koret of California was sold for $71 million[1] in 1979 to its first patent licensee, Levi Strauss & Company.
[6] In January 1981, he married the personal assistant of his wife, Susan McClain (born Whae Hwa Gee in 1938 in Korea, and widowed from a U.S. Army master sergeant).