| Tom Friedkin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1935/1936 (age 76–77)[1] San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Residence | Houston, Texas |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Businessman, Philanthropist, Pilot |
| Known for | Founder of Gulf States Toyota |
| Net worth | US $ 1.4 billion (est.) (February 2010)[1] |
| Spouse | Susan |
| Children | 4 |
| Parents | Kenneth and Jean Friedkin |
Thomas Hoyt Friedkin is a businessman whose net worth, according to the Forbes 400 in 2008, was estimated at $2 billion.[2] He has been described as audacious by Forbes magazine.[3]
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Friedkin learned about airplanes from father, Kenneth Friedkin, who had served in Britain's Royal Air Force as a combat pilot and pilot trainer during World War II. After the war, Kenneth Friedkin opened Friedkin Aeronautics, a flight school in San Diego, California,[4] before founding Pacific Southwest Airlines in 1949. Tom Friedkin learned to fly at an early age and was a PSA pilot in 1962 when his father died abruptly of a cerebral hemorrhage at 47. A year later, his mother also died.
The following year, PSA went public and his mother's death made Tom the largest shareholder of the airline. He had a seat on the Board of Directors, but continued working as a full-time pilot for the carrier.[3] At age 28, Friedkin married, ultimately producing four children with wife Susan. The airline continued operating until 1986, when US Airways purchased the carrier for $400 million. Friedkin received just $3.4 million.
During the 1960s, one of Friedkin's hobbies was racing cars. He was a Grand National Owner from 1965–1969 and two of his drivers, Jim Paschal and Bobby Allison were moderately successful.[5]
Friedkin was friends with Carroll Shelby, the Texan who became famous for designing the Shelby Mustang for Ford. Shelby would probably be a billionaire today if he had accepted Toyota's 1968 offer to become an automobile distributor. According to Shelby,
"I turned it down because I went to Lee Iacocca, and he told me not to take it because the domestic makers were going to push the Japanese back into the ocean. In the end I was just 'dumb' for listening to him at all."
Shelby told his racing buddy, Tom Friedkin, about Toyota's intentions to sell distributor licenses. Friedkin opened Gulf States Toyota Distributors (GST). GST also completed construction of a processing center on a 33-acre (130,000 m2) site at the Port of Houston.[6]
For several years, Friedkin co-owned the Miss Budweiser with Bernie Little. The Hydroplane boat won American Power Boat Association Gold Cup Races in 1969, 1970, and 1973.[7]
He also owned a North American F-86F Sabre, a Chinese Air Force MiG-15, a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt and the General Motors version of a Grumman F4F Wildcat,[8] among other planes. Many have been used in motion picture and television production.
When asked to allow his F4U Corsair to be used in the television show Baa Baa Black Sheep, Friedkin insisted on piloting it himself; he has since flown in several films. Friedkin is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Motion Picture Pilots Association.[9]
Friedkin also hunts big game in Africa, having started his own game-hunting company in Botswana in 1972, which he sold in 1997. In 1989, he chose to hunt in Tanzania and after purchasing a preserve there, began Tanzania Game Tracker Safaris. The new company charges $2,000 a day, but returns some profits through the Friedkin Conservation Fund,[3] a non-governmental organization established in 1994 that operates in Tanzania. The group's focus is conservation issues, and they assist the Tanzanian government with the management (including anti-poaching activities) of its Protected Areas, help uplift rural communities with education, income generation & clean water/health projects, and conduct wildlife monitoring & research. The organization was founded by Tom and Dan Friedkin and is supported by private donations and profits from Friedkin's Tanzania Game Tracker Safaris.[11]
Friedkin has built Gulf States Toyota Distributors into a multibillion-dollar franchise that buys Toyota, Scion and Lexus cars wholesale and sells them—as well as parts and service—to about 150 dealerships in his franchise states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. GST's sales account for nearly 13% of Toyota sales in the United States. GST is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Friedkin Companies [12] and ranked 53rd on the Forbes 2008 list of America's Largest Private Companies with revenues estimated at $5.7 billion.[13]
GST's corporate headquarters is in west Houston with a 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m2) campus consisting of a five story and a ten story building, connected by a concourse and an eight floor parking garage. The complex includes a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) training center, in addition to Gulf States Marketing and Gulf States Financial Services offices.[14]
Gulf States Toyota Distributors is one of only two private Toyota distributors in the United States. The other is Southeast Toyota Distributors, founded by the late billionaire Jim Moran.
By 2001, Tom Friedkin, then 66, had turned over responsibility for running the holding firm and its 3,000 employees to son Dan, but remained Chairman of the Board and was content to dispense advice. "I'm kind of a bum these days," he told Forbes. "I am not a greedy person, and I don't have to make the last dollar there ever was."[3]
The Friedkin Companies, the owner of Gulf States Toyota, contributed $2 million in 2005 to establish the Friedkin Disaster Relief Fund to help provide relief to Hurricane Katrina victims who worked for Toyota and other dealerships.[15] The Friedkin Foundation takes care of his philanthropic activities.