Ajit J. Khubani

Khubani was born in Weehawken, New Jersey in 1959, and he was the first person in his family to be born in the United States. 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. Khubani attended Boonton High School, graduating in 1978. He earned a degree in Business Administration with a minor in psychology from Montclair State University in 1984.

Khubani held many odd jobs until founding his business at age 23. He got his first job at age 11, delivering the Paterson Evening News for $10 per week. 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.

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. Upon breaking even on the ad, he realized that he might be able to turn a profit. He began selling products in magazine and newspaper ads, earning his first million at 26 years old. He eventually recognized that TV would be a much stronger advertising medium for his products. His company, Telebrands, trailblazed direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing through direct response advertising on television. Khubani designed the iconic red “As Seen on TV” logo in 1989, an emblem now widely adopted around the world.

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. Founded in 1983, Telebrands created billions of dollars in revenue. Khubani created the “As Seen on TV” departments at retail; this category is the second-largest producer of nonpharmaceutical revenue at drugstores nationwide, raking in approximately $350 billion annually.

Telebrands’ products are available in over 100,000 retail stores, including Walmart, CVS, Target, Walgreens, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and 7-Eleven. Telebrands has sold over a hundred million units of “As Seen on TV” products; some of the most successful products are AmberVision Sunglasses, Star Shower, Pocket Hose, and PedEgg. As an inventor himself, Khubani currently holds 134 patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The products are sold in over 120 countries.

Khubani lives in Miami Beach, Florida, with his wife. He and his wife, Poonam, had a modern arranged marriage in 1985 and have been happily married ever since. According to the New York Times, he invests his free time into maintaining a healthy lifestyle and spending time with family.

Charity

Khubani has been heavily involved in supporting Children's Hope India, a nonprofit organization that provides education for underprivileged children in India and New York. He was also appointed Vice Chair of the board of The Bergen-Passaic Arc Foundation, a foundation that promotes and protects human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The company has also been involved in a number of cases where victims alleged and ultimately proved willful intellectual property theft. Recent reporting shows that the company systematically infringes on intellectual property and has done so over 120 times.

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 Federal Trade Commission obtained consumer redress against Khubani and Telebrands in 2009 resulting in a $7million settlement. 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.

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Filed a Five Count Action against Telebrands for Consumer Fraud Act Violations in 2014. 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. We are bringing this action to end the abusive business practices that Telebrands allegedly is inflicting upon consumers."