Founded in 1975 by Charlie Clifford after a stint in the Peace Corps in Peru, the company is named after a Peruvian ceremonial knife used for sacrifices. In 2004, Doughty Hanson & Co, a London-based private equity firm, took over Tumi for $276MM. On April 19, 2012, Tumi made an initial public offering of 18,779,865 shares, as Tumi Holdings, Inc. .