In 1997, Judd Zebersky made a decision that colleagues in the legal world likely found hard to explain: he left his law firm and flew to China to learn how to make toys. He had a JD from the University of Miami School of Law and years of practice behind him. He had no manufacturing background at all. He went anyway.
“I looked at my wife, and I said, ‘I want to make toys,'” Zebersky recalled. “She said, ‘Follow your dreams,’ and that’s what I did.”
Factory Floors and a Company Built From Scratch
Zebersky spent months inside Chinese factories, learning processes that most toy company executives delegate entirely. Injection molding, blow molding, rotocasting, hair rooting, design engineering: he studied each of them in factories located on dirt roads in southern China, in towns where families traveled by motorcycle. That knowledge gave him a different kind of authority when Jazwares started making its own products.
Jazwares established itself through licensed entertainment products, securing rights to properties like Minecraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Fortnite. The company then grew through acquisitions: Wicked Cool Toys in 2019, which brought Pokémon licensing, and Kellytoy in 2020, which came with Squishmallows.
Squishmallows became a phenomenon. The plush toys, each with a name, squishday, and biography, spread rapidly on TikTok and attracted celebrity collectors including Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian. More than 100 million units sold in a single year, at prices between $5 and $30. The line helped land Jazwares on TIME’s Most Influential Companies list.
Giving Back Alongside Growing Up
Judd Zebersky founded Jazwares Cares at the same time he founded the company. The philanthropic arm donated millions of toys over the years and built partnerships with Make-A-Wish, Toys for Tots, Ronald McDonald House, Title I schools, and children’s hospitals. The Zebersky family personally contributed $2 million to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and has been active in supporting Make-A-Wish Southern Florida.
Alleghany Capital Corporation invested in Jazwares in 2014 and took a majority stake in 2016, with Zebersky retaining control. Berkshire Hathaway inherited the position through its 2022 Alleghany acquisition. Judd Zebersky stepped down as CEO on March 20, 2026. Jazwares today reaches customers across more than 100 countries and employs around 1,400 people. See This Article to learn more.
Related Article about Judd Zebersky on https://jazwares.uk/about-us/leadership