Marcus Anthony Lemonis (born November 16, 1973) is an American businessman, investor, television personality, philanthropist and politician born in Lebanon. He is currently the chairman and CEO of the World Camping, Good Sam Enterprises, Gander Outdoors and The House Boardshop, in addition to being the The Profit star, a CNBC reality show about saving small businesses.
Video Marcus Lemonis
Biography
Lemonis was born in Beirut, Lebanon, during the chaos of civil war and alien invasions and was adopted during its growth by Leo and Sophia Lemonis, a Greek couple living in Miami, Florida.
Lemonis exposed to the auto industry throughout his background, his grandfather, Anthony Abraham has two of the largest Chevrolet dealers in the United States and Lee Iacocca serves as a family friend and mentor and financial investor to Marcus, lending millions to start a recreational vehicle business. Lemonis obtained a bachelor's degree in political and minor sciences in criminology from Marquette University in Milwaukee in 1995, and failed to run as Democrat to sit in the Florida House of Representatives shortly after graduation, where he refocused his career in the auto industry.
Lemonis currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Business career
Marcus works for his grandfather's car dealer in South Florida, Anthony Abraham Chevrolet. The dealer was acquired by AutoNation in 1997. Beginning in 1997, Lemonis holds several sales and managerial roles for AutoNation. A family friend, Lee Iaccoca approached Marcus and told him that he wanted to "Make the biggest RV chain" when the RV business model in the United States "cracked". Lee helped Marcus start and acquire Holiday RV Superstores. From June 2001 to February 2003 he served as CEO of Holiday RV Superstores Inc. After that, he founded a company called FreedomRoads and began to acquire RV dealers. In 2006, the company joined the World Camping with Lemonis as CEO, and then, in 2011, joined Good Sam Enterprises, with Lemonis again at the helm.
As the World Camping CEO, Lemonis teamed up with NASCAR for the first time in 2004, when sponsored company driver John Andretti. In 2007, Lemonis and Camping World announced that they took over the NASCAR East Series sponsorship of Busch Beer for the 2008-09 season, turning it into NASCAR Camping World Series. Later that same year, they also announced the sponsorship of the Craftsman Truck Series then, rebranding it NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, making the company one of the top three sponsors of the sport. In 2014, Lemonis is working with NASCAR to update Camping World sponsorship of the Truck Series until 2022.
In addition to Camping World, Lemonis is a serial entrepreneur and has helped some troubled businesses. Rose's Bakery & amp; Wheat Free Cafà ©  was established to close its doors on Christmas Eve 2012 when Lemonis came in with an investment that allowed the bakery to remain open. He wrote an initial check of $ 200,000 to become the majority owner of the business with an additional investment commitment of $ 150,000 over the next 18 months. He not only kept the existing bakery, but in March 2014, the second location in Highland Park, Illinois, opened under his direction. Lemonis added Rose and several other businesses, including Amazing Grapes, Betty Lou, Crumbs Bake Shop, Dapper Classics, E-Net IT Group, Key West Key Lime Pie Co., Little Miss Baker, Minis Tonnie, Mr. Green Tea, ProFit Protein Bar and Sweet Pete for its parent company, Marcus Lemonis Enterprises LLC. He also expanded his portfolio in the automotive industry with two businesses from The Profit: 1-800-Car-Cash, car purchase service, and AutoMatch USA, specializing in cars and pre-owned accessories.
In 2007, RV Business Magazine named the "Newsmaker of the Year" Lemonis because it had "more influence on the industry than other individuals or companies [in] recent memory as retail agents and consolidation. "Crain's Chicago Business featured it in the 2005" 40 under 40 "edition; and in 2008, Ernst & amp; Young named him "Entrepreneur of the Year".
Lemonis philanthropic efforts have included support for Joffrey Ballet, Children's Research Hospital St. Jude, the Ravinia Festival, Lincoln Park Zoo, RV/MH Hall of Fame, Zacharias Sexual Harassment Center, and through his time at My Secret Millionaire he donated his time and money to the National Voice for Equality, Education and Enlightenment, Transitional House New Journey and Neat Things.
Under his direction Camping World and Good Sam launched Project Good Samaritan as part of their 2013 goals to foster corporate responsibility, requiring a team of nearly 7,000 employees to volunteer 32 hours per year (eight per quarter) for meaningful causes for them..
In October 2016, Camping World became a public company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CWH) for $ 22 per share, giving a market value of about $ 2 billion to the company. On May 1, 2017, Camping World was trading above $ 31.
In April 2017, Camping World announced the acquisition of Gander Mountain assets, camping equipment hunters, fishing and hunting, including Gander Mountain's intellectual property and trademarks, GanderMountain.com and lifestyle boating and water sportsman, Overton's. In May 2018, the first Overton brick and mortar retailer opened in Rogers, Minnesota, under the direction of Lemonis.
In July 2017, Camping World announced the acquisition of The House Boardshop, an online retailer specializing in bikes, skateboarding, skateboards, wakebo, snowboards, and outdoor gear. These include the intellectual property and trademarks of The House Boardshop including the domain "thehouse.com" and "the-house.com".
Television personality
Lemonis was featured on two episodes of NBC Celebrity Apprentice , which hosted marketing-related challenges. In 2011, he gave each team two RV Camping World and challenged them to hold an experience in downtown Manhattan. In 2012, Lemonis challenges the contestants to write a 90-second jingle for Good Sam's Roadside Assistance program. In 2012, Lemonis appeared on the ABC Secret Millionaire episode, returning to his hometown of Miami to help the local charity..
In 2013, Lemonis became the reality show star of CNBC The Profit , featuring Lemonis in a promising yet shaky little business hunt. In the event, Lemonis invested his own money for partial ownership in the business to make them profitable. After the third season, Lemonis has invested $ 35 million in the business featured in the program.
In 2017, Lemonis will star in the second CNBC program of Partners , where he looks for business managers to help run a business invested by Lemonis on The Profit . Lemonis will also produce together.
Maps Marcus Lemonis
Political career
Florida House Campaign 1996
Lemonis, appearing on the ballot as Marc Anthony Lemonis, lost two Republican presidential titles, Bruno Barreiro, 42.44 percent to 57.56 percent, albeit backed by the Miami Herald . The Miami Herald mentions Lemonis, a Democrat, a "political politician" but supports him because "he radiates energy and ideas."
References
External links
- Official website
- Profits on CNBC
- Marcus Lemonis: The Profit (Interview)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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