James Martin Moran (August 8, 1918 - April 24, 2007) is an American car and philanthropic dealer whose net worth of $ 2.4 billion ranked him 390 on Forbes 400 at the time of his death.
Video Jim Moran (businessman)
Initial years
Personal
Moran was born in Chicago. Her father died when she was 14 years old, but her mother insisted she stay at school. He graduated from Loyola High School (now Loyola Academy) in 1936. Moran married Arline Steveley in 1941, then served in the US Army from 1942-1943. He and his wife have three children: Arline in 1943, Pat in 1945 and Jim, Jr. in 1948. His first wife died of complications of rheumatoid arthritis in February 1976. Moran married Janice Maxine Kline on July 30, 1976.
Business
After high school, he saved his money and bought a Sinclair gas station in 1939 for $ 360; returned to Chicago after his war service, he added many used cars, then opened the 1946 Hudson dealership, which became the largest in the US When Hudson joined Nash-Kelvinator, he switched brands to Ford in 1955, renamed it Courtesy Ford . As the first car dealer to advertise on television, he became famous in the Chicago area as "Jim Moran, Likes Person." In an interview with Mike Downey at the Chicago Tribune on October 21, 2005, while the World Series was underway, Moran pulled back a 1959 promotion to give a free car to every Sox player who hit home runs in the World Series in 1959. (He finally gave three 1960 Ford Falcons to Ted Kluszewski slugger.) By the late 1950s, Courtesy Ford had become Ford's biggest dealer in the world. On March 24, 1961 he became and remains the only car dealer that appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
Maps Jim Moran (businessman)
Stopping to Florida
In the early 1960s, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He and his wife, Arline, who was also ill, decided to move to Florida. However, his illness was in remission and in 1968 he returned to the automotive field by opening a Pontiac dealer at Homestead, which was later transferred to Hollywood.
Toyota
In early 1968, he was contacted by a friend from Chicago who said that Toyota wanted to build a network of dealers in the Southeast US and wanted to talk to Jim Moran, who asked what Toyota was. The company failed to penetrate the American market in the late 1950s and tried again. Moran refused, but his friend insisted that Moran was driving one. According to Moran, he tested everything to see if it would break. While sailing at 55 mph on the interstate, Moran shifts backward, and engines and transmissions survive. Moran concludes that although Toyota is not as stylish or comfortable as a domestic vehicle, they are well built, reasonably priced, and destined to transform the automotive business. On October 26, 1968 he signed an agreement to distribute Toyota vehicles from ports in Jacksonville, Florida to the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North, and South Carolina. Southeast Toyota Distributor (SET) was established that year and in 2006, distributed over 400,000 vehicles, 20% of all new Toyota sold in the United States.
JM Family
Moran created another automotive business under the umbrella of JM Family Enterprises (JMFE), based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. JMFE is recognized as one of Fortune's "100 Best Places to Work in America" ​​and the second largest private company in Florida. The company grew from the distribution business to a diversified automotive company. Currently, the business also includes vehicle processing, financial services and insurance products, retail sales/products and agency technology services. JMFE is an industry leader with 2008 sales of $ 10.1 billion and employs about 4,000 people nationwide.
Problems
Moran pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1984. He insisted that he had been given bad advice and it was not intentional. He was fined $ 35,000, underwent probation, and created a training facility for disadvantaged youth (see Philanthropy, below).
A number of Toyota dealers filed a lawsuit against JMFE alleging that they were forced to do business with other JMFE companies to accept Toyota's most desirable model. Finally, all lawsuits are dropped once the settlement is reached.
In the late 1980s, SET was accused of rejecting a dealer franchise for blacks who meet distributor requirements. In 1992, a congressional hearing was held to investigate the possibility of discrimination. In response, JMFE commenced the annual event of African-American Grand Prize .
Yachting
The first ship of Moran was purchased in the 1940s; Chris-Craft 19 feet. From that point on, he was captivated. The boat and amuse them is the passion of Jim Moran. In his lifetime, he has over 200, including models from Burger, Wellcraft Scarab, Hatteras, Sea Ray, Rybovich and the millions of dollar motor yachts from Feadship. In 1983, he asked Feadship to design a boat large enough to sail the sea to sail the sea but elegant to entertain business associates. Over the next 20 years, Moran commissioned seven additional ships from the company, culminating in the 168 'Gallant Lady' in 2002.
His operatic Mody is commissioning a yacht, taking delivery (the ship usually takes 18-24 months to build), using it for several years, then commissioning a new cruise ship with repairs. When the new boat is over, he will sell the old boat with profit and repeat the cycle.
Jim Moran has a significant influence in terms of yachting. ShowBoats International presented it with their first Prize in 2006. The award was given because "he's pushing envelopes on technology and innovation... generously sharing his yachting experience with employees and charity organizations... plus lifelong commitment to environmental management "
Yacht Club of Monaco and sponsors, Hublot presents it with the Yachting Heritage Award for "innovation in yacht design and technology with a commitment to marine conservation".
Jim Moran and his wife Jan are founding members of the International SeaKeepers Society, who renamed their calibration lab and technical office in honor of Moran after his death. They are also included in the two star Admiral's Club.
Mr. Moran was posthumously honored on April 18, 2008 in Venice, Italy with a special Superyacht Legacy Award from Boat International which recognizes his contribution to yacht design, marine conservation efforts, enthusiasm and philanthropy.
Philanthropy
In 1984, Moran established the Center for Youth Youth Training (YATC), located in Deerfield Beach, Florida as a privately funded program that offers basic automotive repair training, GED and academic preparation, and life skills prowess for young people at risk. In 2009, there were 491 YATC graduates living as law-abiding citizens because they were given the opportunity to learn marketable skills.
After an open heart surgery saved his life in 1988, Moran donated $ 1 million to fund a cardiovascular intensive care unit at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale. The Morans and JM Family Enterprises provided a combined $ 6 million in 2000 to build the Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Center. His last donation was a five-year, $ 26 million Moran Challenge for Jim Moran Heart and the Vascular Research Institute, which began in 2006.
Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship was founded in 1995 at Florida State University through a $ 1.8 million prize. The purpose of the entity is to provide various services to the entrepreneur at no cost. In 2015, the Jim Moran Foundation donated another $ 100 million to Florida State University - the largest school donation in history - to create what would become the largest interdisciplinary entrepreneurial school at the country level. Most prizes will continue to fund the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship, which has a 20-year history of serving entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout Florida. The Jim Moran Institute will remain administratively at the FSU College of Business and continue its extensive outreach mission to help bridge real-world entrepreneurship practice with entrepreneurship education provided through the new school.
The Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts in Jacksonville, Florida was the recipient of a $ 2 million Moran donation in 1996 that funded the complete renovation of what was a genuine Civil Auditorium, transformed into an open space with new balconies, complete reconfiguration of seats, new sky and advanced sound system. Equipped for a Broadway tour show, with a seating capacity of 3,000, the theater gives residents a place to view classic Broadway productions. It's named Jim and Jan Moran Theater .
In 2000, he founded Jim Moran Foundation with a mission to improve the quality of life for Florida youth and families through the support of innovative programs and opportunities that meet the needs of an ever-changing society.. JM Family Enterprises continues to provide funding for entities. In 2015 the foundation donated $ 100 million to Florida State University to create the Jim Moran Entrepreneurship School in downtown Tallahassee. The initial estimate for the completion date is August 2018.
In December 2015, the Jim Moran Foundation provided what is believed to be the largest single contribution ever to the Florida higher education system - a $ 100 million contribution to Florida State University.
Awards
Moran was the recipient of the prestigious Horatio Alger Award in 1996. At the urging of his friends and business associates, he published his autobiography that same year: Jim Moran: The Courtesy Man . It's a subtitle, "Inside the Heart of One of the Most Successful Marketers in the Car Industry". The following year, Florida State University gave him a Doctor of Humane Letters degree in recognition of his talent and marketing skills. The International Automotive Hall of Fame inaugurated Moran in 2005.
Death
On April 24, 2007, Moran died at his home in Hillsboro Beach, Florida at the age of 88 on the day it was announced that Toyota had surpassed General Motors as the world's top-selling automaker.
References
External links
- JM Family Enterprises
- Jim Moran Foundation
- Automotive Youth Training Center
- Jim Moran Institute at Florida State University
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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