Michael Krasny (businessman)

Last updated

Michael Krasny
Born1952or1953(age 71–72) [1]
NationalityAmerican
Education University of Illinois
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder of CDW Corporation
SpouseJanet Krasny [2]
Children1

Michael Krasny (born 1952/1953) is an American billionaire businessman from Illinois. He is the founder and former chief executive officer of CDW Corporation, a direct seller of technical gadgets including computers and networking equipment.

Contents

Early life

Krasny grew up in a Jewish family in Illinois. [3] [4] He graduated from the University of Illinois Gies College of Business in 1975. [1] He worked as a Toyota car salesman at his father's auto dealership in Arlington Heights, Illinois. In 1981, he quit his job as a car salesman and took some classes in computer programming but being unsuccessful in finding steady work, Krasny was forced to sell his own computer for cash. He placed a $3 ad in the Chicago Tribune and ended up selling his computer for a $200 profit. [4]

Career and retirement

Seeing the great demand for computers, Krasny began buying computers to resell them eventually forming MPK Computers. A year later he changed the name to Computer Discount Warehouse (CDW) and steadily grew the business. In 1993, he took CDW public. [4] Krasny retired in 2007 after selling the company to Madison Dearborn Partners for $7.3 billion. [1] According to Forbes, his first caller from 1982 was still a customer as of 2000. [1] Since 2009, as a hobby, Krasny has operated a woodworking shop in Northbrook, Illinois called Custom Woodworking Design, making plaques and awards. [4]

Personal life

Krasny is married, with one child. He lives with his family in Highland Park, Illinois. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergey Brin</span> American computer scientist and businessman (born 1973)

Sergey Mikhailovich Brin is an American computer scientist and businessman who co-founded Google with Larry Page. He was the president of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., until stepping down from the role on December 3, 2019. He and Page remain at Alphabet as co-founders, controlling shareholders and board members. As of December 2024, Brin is the 7th-richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $164 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Dell</span> American business magnate

Michael Saul Dell is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Montgomery Ward</span> American businessman (1843–1913)

Aaron Montgomery Ward was an American entrepreneur based in Chicago who made his fortune through the use of mail order for retail sales of general merchandise to rural customers. In 1872 he founded Montgomery Ward & Company, which became nationally known.

Ernie Ball was an American entrepreneur and musician who developed guitar-related products. Ball began as a club and local television musician and entrepreneur, building an international business in guitars and accessories. Ernie Ball Inc. is the eponymous corporation Ball started to market guitar accessories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Zell</span> American businessman (1941–2023)

Samuel Zell was an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist primarily engaged in real estate investment. Companies founded by or controlled by Zell include Equity Residential, Equity International, EQ Office, Covanta, Tribune Media, and Anixter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Krasny (talk show host)</span>

Michael Jay Krasny is a professor and retired American radio host of Forum, a news and public affairs program on San Francisco public radio station KQED-FM, covering current events, politics, and culture from 1993 to 2021. Additionally, Krasny is currently a professor of English literature at San Francisco State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niles North High School</span> Secondary school in Skokie, Illinois, United States

Niles North High School, officially Niles Township High School North, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is part of Niles Township Community High School District 219, which also includes Niles West High School. Its feeder middle schools are Old Orchard Junior High, Oliver McCracken Middle School, East Prairie School, and Golf Middle School. Before being moved to a separate facility in Lincolnwood, Illinois, the Bridges Adult Transition program was hosted at the school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CDW</span> American technology company

CDW Corporation is a premier, multi-brand provider of innovative information technology solutions, serving business, government, education, and healthcare sectors across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Headquartered in Vernon Hills, Illinois, CDW employs over 15,000 professionals and supports a diverse customer base of 250,000 organizations. As a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 Index, CDW generated $21 billion in annual net sales in 2023.

Richard Leo Simon was an American book publisher. He was the co-founder of the publishing house Simon & Schuster and father of singer-songwriter Carly Simon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Charney</span> American lawyer

Leon Charney was an American real estate tycoon, attorney, author, philanthropist, political pundit, media personality and Jewish cantor. He lived in Manhattan in New York City, dividing his time between his residences in Tel Aviv and Boca Raton, Florida. In March 2012, Forbes listed Charney as No. 353 among the wealthiest Americans. He was a graduate of Yeshiva University where he participated in demonstrations to free Soviet Jewry, and Brooklyn Law School.

Albert, Baron Frère was a Belgian billionaire businessman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bernard Ziff Jr.</span> American publishing executive (1930–2006)

William Bernard "Bill" Ziff Jr. was an American publishing executive. His father, William Bernard Ziff Sr., was the co-founder of Ziff Davis Inc. and when the elder Ziff died in 1953, Ziff took over the management of the company. After buying out partner Bernard G. Davis, he led Ziff Davis to become the most successful publisher of technology magazines in the 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rags to riches</span> Any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth

Rags to riches refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype in literature and popular culture, such as the writings of Horatio Alger, Jr.

David W. Nelms is an American businessman and the former CEO of Discover Financial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saul Steinberg (businessman)</span> American businessman and financier (1939–2012)

Saul Phillip Steinberg was an American businessman and financier. He became a millionaire before his 30th birthday and a billionaire before his 40th birthday. He started a computer leasing company (Leasco), which he used in an audacious and successful takeover of the much larger Reliance Insurance Company in 1968. He was best known for his unsuccessful attempts to take over Chemical Bank in 1969 and Walt Disney Productions in 1984.

Michael E. Heisley was an American businessman and former majority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James P. Liautaud</span> Father of Jimmy Johns founder Jimmy John Liautaud

James P. Liautaud was an American industrialist, inventor and business theorist. He is the father of Jimmy John's founder Jimmy John Liautaud. Liautaud provided his son with the seed money to start his restaurant business in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Stoppelman</span> American business executive

Jeremy Stoppelman is an American business executive. He is the CEO of Yelp, which he co-founded in 2004. Stoppelman obtained a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1999. After briefly working for @Home Network, he worked at X.com and later became the VP of Engineering after the company was renamed PayPal. Stoppelman left PayPal to attend Harvard Business School. During a summer internship at MRL Ventures, he and others came up with the idea for Yelp Inc. He turned down an acquisition offer by Google and took the company public in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Koum</span> Ukrainian-born American entrepreneur, co-founder of WhatsApp

Jan Borysovych Koum is a Ukrainian-American billionaire businessman and computer programmer. He is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for US$19.3 billion. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of US$15.2 billion as of October 2023, making him one of the richest people in the world. Koum was ranked 44th on the Forbes' list of richest Americans in 2023 with a net worth of $15.1 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Ricketts</span> American businessman, politician, and sports team owner (born 1969)

Todd M. Ricketts is an American businessman and politician who is a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, a member of the TD Ameritrade board of directors, and a former Republican National Committee Finance Chairman.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Forbes profile: Michael Krasny". Forbes. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  2. ↑ Profile, insidephilanthropy.com. Accessed December 27, 2023.
  3. ↑ Jacob Berkman "At least 139 of the Forbes 400 are Jewish", Jewish Telegraph Agency, October 5, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 CRN: "Michael Krasny – IT Sales Innovator" by Jeff O'Heir Archived September 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine November 13, 2002
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.