Stephen Adams (born 1937) is an American businessman,

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

investor, and philanthropist. His current holdings include

Good Sam Enterprises Good Sam Enterprises (formerly Affinity Group or AGI) is a provider of membership clubs, as well as subscription-based products, services and publications, targeted toward recreational vehicle and other outdoor enthusiasts in the United States a ...

, a national publishing, retail stores, and member-based direct marketing organization directed toward owners of

recreational vehicles A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...

and Adams Outdoor Advertising, an operator of

outdoor advertising Out-of-home (OOH) advertising, also called outdoor advertising, outdoor media, and out-of-home media, is advertising experienced outside of the home. This includes billboards, wallscapes, and posters seen while "on the go". It also includes pla ...

structures in the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. His previous holdings have included operators of television and radio stations, print publishers, cola bottlers and community banks.

Early life

Adams was born in 1937 and was raised in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Adams received a bachelor's degree in 1959 from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. He received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1962. Adams is the son of long-time newspaper journalist and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

radio and television broadcaster Cedric Adams.

Professional career

As of the end of 2007, Adams served as chairman of the board of Affinity Group Inc., FreedomRoads and Affinity Bank (now known as Camping World/Goodsam, Inc.) and is also chairman and the controlling shareholder of Adams Outdoor Advertising. He has been chairman of Affinity Group Inc. since its acquisition in December 1988 and chairman of Adams Outdoor Advertising since its founding in 1983. He also serves as chairman of Adams Radio Group (based in

Lakeville, Minnesota Lakeville is an exurb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and the largest city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is approximately south of both downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul along Interstate Highway 35. Starting as a flouri ...

) and Adams Publishing Group (based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota). Adams began his career in banking and soft drink bottling. Since the 1970s, Adams has served as chairman of privately owned banking, bottling, publishing, outdoor advertising, television and radio companies in which he holds a controlling ownership interest. Adams currently owns Chateau Fonplagade in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

as well as other left bank wineries, and Adamus, Michel-Schlumberger, Roblar, and Adler Fels wineries in Northern California. In 1982, he won a protracted fight to gain control of the Bank of Montana System. In 1984, Adams failed in a bid to take control of publicly-traded

Union Planters Union Planters Bank was a United States financial institution and multi-state bank holding corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee prior to being acquired by Regions Financial Corporation. With over $34 billion in assets, Union Planters B ...

. Bank of Montana System was sold to

Norwest Corporation Norwest Corporation was a banking and financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In 1998, it merged with Wells Fargo & Co. and since that time has operated under the Wells Fargo name. History Early formation Th ...

in 1993.

Adams Outdoor

Adams Outdoor was founded in 1983 with the acquisition of Central Outdoor Advertising, located in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Over the next five years, Adams pursued a

rollup A rollup (also "roll-up" or "roll up") is a process used by investors (commonly private equity firms) where multiple small companies in the same market are acquired and merged. The principal aim of a rollup is to reduce costs through economies o ...

of billboard and other outdoor advertising assets into additional medium-sized markets, primarily through the acquisition of existing outdoor advertising businesses in selected midwest, southeast and mid-Atlantic states (examples being Central Outdoor in Michigan, Creative Displays in the Lehigh Valley, and Schloss Outdoor in North Carolina).ADAMS OUTDOOR ADVERTISING FORM S-4/A
(US Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR filing system as filed June 5, 1996) Today the company is privately held, however in its final year of reporting public financials, 2000, the company had approximately $80 million of revenue. Since 2000, the company has increased its market position from the 6th largest outdoor advertising company in the US to the 4th largest behind Clear Channel Outdoor,

Lamar Advertising Company Lamar Advertising is an outdoor advertising company which operates billboards, logo signs, and transit displays in the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1902 by Charles W. Lamar and J.M. Coe, and is headquartered in Baton Rou ...

, and

Outfront Media Outfront Media, Inc. is one of the largest outdoor media companies. It operates in markets including the United States and Canada. The Americas division is led by chief executive officer Jeremy Male. Outfront Media operates both billboards and tr ...

. In January 2015, Adams Outdoor partnered with Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR, to purchase Fairway Outdoor, effectively doubling the Outdoor holdings of Adams.

Affinity Group Inc.

On December 23, 1988, the direct predecessor of Affinity Group Inc. (AGI), owned by Adams, acquired a company called American Bakeries Company for about $138 million. At the time of the merger, the sole operating assets of American Bakeries Company were TL Enterprises, Inc. ( Trailer Life magazine) and Camp Coast to Coast, Inc. These entities consisted of what is today the

Good Sam Club The Good Sam Club is an international organization of recreational vehicle (RV) owners and the largest organization of RV owners in the world. It is focused upon making RVing safer and more enjoyable, also, saving money for members through club- ...

, Coast to Coast, AGI’s subscription-based products and services business and AGI’s RV-related publications, with the exception of the Woodall’s titles.TRAVEL AMERICA, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ET AL. (PLAINTIFFS) VS. CAMP COAST TO COAST, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ET AL. (DEFENDANTS), CASE NO. 789743
(SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ORANGE) June 14, 2000TRAVEL AMERICA, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ET AL. (PLAINTIFFS) VS. CAMP COAST TO COAST, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ET AL. (DEFENDANTS), CASE NO. 789743
(SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ORANGE) July 13, 2000 From 1990 through 1997 AGI acquired other companies. Among the purchases were Golf Card International in 1990 for about $18 million; and in May 1994, Woodall Publishing Company, L.P. and Woodall World of Travel, L.P. (collectively Woodall’s) for about $11.5 million. In 1995, AGI acquired the 13-year-old San Francisco Thrift and Loan and moved the company’s headquarters to

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

. In 1997, the bank was renamed Affinity Bank; in 1999, AGI transferred ownership to Affinity Bank Holdings, Inc. a separate entity controlled by Adams In March 1997, as part of AGI’s $130.0-million offering of the holding company notes due 2007, AGI acquired Camping World, Inc. and Ehlert Publishing for about $123.0 million and $22.3 million, respectively. AGI is now known as Camping World/GoodSam, and is the largest RV dealer network and camping retailer in the United States.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's "The Profit" features Camping World/Goodsam CEO Marcus Lemonis as its star. On October 7, 2016, Camping World/GoodSam completed its initial public offering as Camping World Holdings, Inc.; today, it trades on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

as CWH.

Newspapers

In 2013, Stephen Adams' son, Mark Adams, formed

Adams Publishing Group Adams Publishing Group LLC (APG) is a company that provides publishing services, including newspapers, periodicals, and website publishing in the United States. Its corporate headquarters is located in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Mark Adams, the son ...

(APG). Stephen Adams serves as Chairman of the board of Adams Publishing Group. APG is a

Limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

that owns newspapers in over 20 states. It is currently headquartered in

Greeneville, Tennessee Greeneville is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, and it is the second oldest town i ...

Political affiliations

Adams has raised funds for Republican Party candidates. He reportedly contributed over $1 million of billboard advertising (through his Adams Outdoor Advertising business) to support

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's 2000 presidential campaign.

Philanthropy

As of 2017, Adams serves on the board of visitors for the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a join ...

. The Adams Family Foundation, founded by Adams and his wife, Denise, has made grants to a variety of educational institutions including Yale University, Stanford University,

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

, the

Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts The Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is an art school in Old Lyme, Connecticut. From 1992 to 2019 it was a degree-granting institution, and from 2016 it was constituent college of the University of New Haven, as Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. Hist ...

and The Blake School. Adams gave a $100 million gift to the

, the largest single contribution in the school's 108-year history to that point. Adams funded the construction of the Adams Center for Musical Arts at Yale University and was dedicated in a ceremony officiated by Yale President Peter Salovey, on February 16, 2017.

Awards

Adams was selected to receive the Arbuckle Award from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 2006. In 2009, Adams received the Yale Medal, the highest award bestowed by the Yale Alumni Association.

Personal life

Adams is married to his fourth wife, the former Denise Rhea. He has four sons from his first marriage to the late Virginia Susan Ridgway: Stephen Marcus, Mark Charles, Kent Ridgway, and Scott Learned Adams. Ridgway was the granddaughter of John Ridgway, co-founder of IDS (now known as Ameriprise Financial). Ameriprise Financial is a Fortune 200 company with a market capitalization of $21 billion. The Ridgway family sold their interest in IDS to American Express in 1984 for $600 million. IDS/American Express subsequently was renamed American Express Financial Advisers, and subsequently was spun off by American Express as its own publicly-traded company in 2005, and renamed

Ameriprise Financial Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is a diversified financial services company and bank holding company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It provides financial planning products and services, including wealth mana ...

. The company's flagship corporate headquarters, the IDS Centre, is the tallest building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, designed by Phillip Johnson and completed in 1974, though it no longer houses Ameriprise's corporate headquarters. Adams lives in

Roxbury, Connecticut Roxbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,260 at the 2020 census. The town is located northeast of New York City. History Roxbury, whose Native name was ''Shepaug'', a Mahican word signifying "roc ...

;

Healdsburg, California Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, in California's Wine Country. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,254. Owing to its three most important wine-producing regions (the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Vall ...

;

Big Timber, Montana Big Timber is a city in, and the county seat of Sweet Grass County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2020 census. Big Timber takes its name from Big Timber Creek, which was named by William Clark because of the large cot ...

; and Saint Emilion (Bordeaux), France.