Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: WILLIAM G. ‘BILL’ CRUTCHFIELD JR.

At age 15, Crutchfield founded what would eventually become his electronics retail business by installing hi-fi sound systems in Charlottesville-area homes. Today,
his privately held corporation has 750 employees
in Virginia and brought in $460 million in revenues
in 2022.

After launching his first mail-order catalog in 1974, Crutchfield grew the business into a major online retailer that now sells customers everything from TVs to drones. The company pledges free lifetime technical support on any gear it sells.

Crutchfield was inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame in 2007.

A University of Virginia graduate, Crutchfield is a U.S. Air Force veteran, having served as commander of a Titan II missile crew and as a Strategic Air Command instructor. He was twice awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal. The son of a neurosurgeon who founded U.Va.’s neurosurgery department, Crutchfield was an early supporter of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in Charlottesville.

HOBBY/PASSION: Flying airplanes, operating my boat, repairing my classic cars, installing complex electronics in my homes and trying unsuccessfully to train our four dachshunds

MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “Simply Lies: A Psychological Thriller,” by David Baldacci