John W. Rollins - Professional Career

Professional Career

After World War II, Rollins and his wife Kitty moved to Lewes, Delaware where he opened a Ford dealership. Rollins aggressively expanded his business by buying other dealerships in Maryland and Virginia. During this time, he also began to pioneer of the concept of leasing automobiles.

In 1947, Rollins’ older brother, O. Wayne Rollins, moved to Lewes from Georgia and joined him in the business in Delaware. The following year, the brothers founded Rollins Broadcasting and bought 1460 WRAD, an AM radio station based in the rural town of . As television continued to intrude on the traditional radio market, Rollins Broadcasting took advantage of falling radio station prices by increasing its holdings and launching programming targeted toward African-Americans. Rollins then developed a coordinated approach to advertising by buying billboards that allowed him to offer clients multiple advertising venues for their products. In 1956, Rollins Broadcasting expanded its business into television.

In 1961 John and Wayne Rollins took their company public. Over the next three years, annual profits from the company exceeded $9 million. In 1964, they used the proceeds of their public offering to orchestrate the $60 million leveraged buyout of the Atlanta-based Orkin Exterminating Company. Due to the constantly diversifying interests of the business, the company was renamed Rollins, Inc. By 1967, stock in the company was trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

In addition to this, John was a pioneer in the automobile leasing business. He started what would later become Rollins Truck Leasing. Also during this time he acquired Matlack Systems, the country's largest bulk trucking company, and started Rollins Purle which later became Rollins Environmental. All three companies ultimately ended up trading on the New York Stock exchange.

By 1984, the interests of Rollins, Inc. had become so diverse that the company spun off two new companies, Rollins Communications and RPC Energy Services, Inc., both of which were traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

In addition to this, Rollins founded and grew both Dover Motorsports as well as Dover Entertainment and took them public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Although he received many awards including the knights of Malta, The Golden Plate Award, and was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame to name a few, perhaps his most prized acknowledgement was in 1963, when he was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. They honored Rollins’ rise from humble roots to preeminence in the world of business with their Horatio Alger Award. Rollins worked hard in the Horatio Alger Association to help make it into what it is today where it is the largest privately funded scholarship in the USA for underpriveldged college students. His legacy is continued by his children and his wife Michele.