In 2003, fashion house Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS) was struggling.

“It was losing money and probably would have gone out of business had we not bought it,’’ said Chief Executive Officer John Idol in a speech at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in March. Idol, 53, a former CEO of Donna Karan International Inc., took over the company with partners that included Sportswear Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based private equity firm.

It’s been pretty much champagne and roses for Michael Kors ever since, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its August issue. What was a $20 million-in-revenue business in 2004 is now a $1.3 billion behemoth. Net income for the 12 months ended on March 31 was $147 million. And Kors Holdings soared 144 percent in the 90 days after going public in December.

Source: Bloomberg