Early Life, Education, and Business Career
Haslam was born in Knoxville in 1958, the third child of Jim Haslam, the founder of Pilot Corporation, the parent company of the convenience store and travel center chain, Pilot Flying J, and his wife, Cynthia (Allen). Jim Haslam has been a Republican Party fundraiser and University of Tennessee donor and trustee for several decades.
Haslam was educated at the Webb School of Knoxville, where he became active in the Christian group, Young Life. He later attended Emory University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in history in 1980. He is a member of the Beta Chi chapter of the Sigma Chi International Fraternity.
As a teenager, Haslam began working part-time in his father's corporation. He had made plans to teach history and eventually become a minister. Following his university graduation, he returned to Knoxville to work for Pilot in hopes of learning more about the business world before entering the seminary, and eventually decided to stay with the company. He was elevated to president of the company (with his brother, Jimmy, as CEO, and father as chairman) in 1995.
In 1999, Haslam joined Saks Fifth Avenue as the chief executive officer of the e-commerce and catalog division. He left Saks in 2001, and joined the board of the Dallas-based clothing chain, Harold Stores, later that year.
Haslam is one of the owners of the Tennessee Smokies, a minor league baseball team in East Tennessee. His brother, current Pilot Corp. & Pilot Flying J president James Haslam III, became full owner of the Cleveland Browns in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Bill Haslam
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