Bob Parsons
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Robert Ralph Parsons (born November 27, 1950) is an American
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
,
billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
, and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. In 1997, he founded the
GoDaddy GoDaddy Inc. is an American publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and incorporated in Delaware. , GoDaddy has more than 21 million customers and over 6,600 employees worldwide. The co ...
group of companies, including domain name registrar GoDaddy.com, reseller registrar Wild West Domains, and Blue Razor Domains. In July 2011, Parsons sold approximately 70 percent of GoDaddy to a private equity consortium and resigned his position as CEO. In June 2014, he stepped down from his position as Executive Chairman and served on the board until 2018. Parsons is the founder and CEO of YAM Worldwide, Inc., which is home to his entrepreneurial ventures in the fields of powersports, golf, real estate, and marketing. In 2012, Parsons and his wife Renee founded The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, which provides funding, primarily in the greater
Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
area, to nonprofit organizations. In December 2013, they joined
The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, an ...
, an initiative started by Bill and Melinda Gates and
Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
that requires signators to commit at least half of their fortunes to charity. As of September 2020, Parsons is ranked No. 378 on the Forbes 400 list of ''The Richest People in America.''


Background

Parsons was born in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. His family lived in
Highlandtown Highlandtown is a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Description and history The area currently known as Highlandtown was established in 1866 when the area known as "Snake Hill" was established as a village outside the Baltimor ...
and struggled financially as both of his parents were hard-core gamblers. His mother was a homemaker while his father worked as a furniture salesman for
Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...
. Parsons has said about those days, "I've earned everything I've ever received. Very little was given to me. I've been working as long as I can remember. Whether it was delivering or selling newspapers, pumping gas, working in construction or in a factory, I've always been making my own money." After nearly flunking out of high school, Parsons enlisted in the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
. He was assigned to the 26th Marine Regiment, which was attached to and operated as part of the
1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is the ...
. In 1969, he served as a
rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifling, rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction o ...
in the Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, during a tour of duty in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, in the Quảng Nam Province. He was wounded in action, medically evacuated, and spent two months at a naval hospital recovering from his wounds. As a result of his service and injury, he earned the
Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR, ), is a high precedence United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or sur ...
, the
Vietnam Gallantry Cross The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross also known as the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross or Vietnam Cross of Gallantry ( vi, Anh-Dũng Bội-Tinh) is a military decoration of the former Government of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam). The medal wa ...
, and the
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...
.


Education

In 1975, Parsons obtained an
accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...
degree from the
University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...
, graduating ''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
''. He then began his career in IT and software sales industry The University of Baltimore conferred an honorary
Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
degree on May 21, 2008.


Parsons Technology

In 1984, he founded Parsons Technology in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...
, and began selling MoneyCounts, a home accounting program. In late 1987, Parsons was able to quit his job and focus completely on selling and overseeing growth of MoneyCounts. Eventually, Parsons Technology grew to be a 1,000-employee, privately held company. On September 27, 1994, Parsons completed the sale of Parsons Technology to
Intuit, Inc. Intuit Inc. is an American business software company that specializes in financial software. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and the CEO is Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit's products include the tax preparation application ...
for $64 million.


GoDaddy

Parsons founded the Internet domain registrar and Web hosting company GoDaddy in 1997. In July 2011, Parsons sold approximately 70 percent of GoDaddy to a private equity consortium led by KKR & Co. L.P. and Silver Lake, and resigned his position as CEO. In June 2014, Parsons stepped down from his position as Executive Chairman. Parsons announced he would be fully stepping away from GoDaddy in October 2018, relinquishing his board seat.


YAM Worldwide, Inc.

In 2012, Parsons founded the Scottsdale, Arizona-based YAM Worldwide Inc., "home of arsons'entrepreneurship operations ... in the fields of power sports, golf, real estate, marketing, innovation and philanthropy." YAM Capital is YAM Worldwide's private lending and investment arm, specializing in commercial real estate lending and acquisition of closely held middle-market companies. In 2013, Parsons acquired Martz Agency, a 25-employee public relations firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2015, Bob Parsons rebranded the firm to BIG YAM, The Parsons Agency, a full-service advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2016, Parsons launched Sneaky Big Studios in Scottsdale at the YAM Worldwide Center where much of YAM Worldwide is based. Sneaky Big Studio provides production, post-production, and recording studio services including editorial, visual effects, color finishing, and audio. In 2017, Parsons established The YAMWOOD Foundry, a business that creates custom, unique furniture, signs, and lighting fixtures for residential and commercial projects.


Motorcycle dealerships

YAM Worldwide subsidiaries LZ Delta, L.L.C. and MS LZ Delta, L.L.C. operate
Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
and multi-brand motorcycle dealerships in Arizona, Mississippi, and Tennessee. They include: * GoAZ Motorcycles (multi-brand dealership), Scottsdale, Arizona * GoAZ Motorcycles (multi-brand dealership), Peoria, Arizona * Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona * Southern Thunder Harley-Davidson, Southaven, Mississippi Parsons is also founder and CEO of Scottsdale-based Spooky Fast Customs, which creates customized motorcycle designs and fabrications. In April 2014, Parsons announced plans to build the "world's largest Harley-Davidson dealership" in Scottsdale. Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale opened in 2015, the two-story, 150,000 square-foot dealership includes a lingerie boutique, tattoo and piercing parlor, arcade, movie theater, and wedding chapel.


Golf

In September 2013, Parsons purchased The Golf Club Scottsdale, a 292-acre members-only golf course, for $600,000 and undisclosed debt, and renamed it Scottsdale National Golf Club. In 2014, Parsons purchased undeveloped properties adjacent to his golf course including a 223-acre parcel for a reported $55 million, a 41-acre parcel for $5.4 million, and a smaller tract for $2.3 million. Also in 2014, Parsons announced plans to build a new clubhouse, nine-hole practice facility, and second 18-hole golf course on the property.


Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG)

In January 2015, Parsons launched Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG), a high-end golf club manufacturing company. The same month, professional golfer Ryan Moore used prototype PXG irons and wedges when he played in the
Hyundai Tournament of Champions The Sentry Tournament of Champions is the calendar-year opening tournament of golf's PGA Tour season, played in Hawaii on the island of Maui. The tournament was founded in 1953; for most of its history the field was restricted to golfers who won a ...
, a
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
event. With more than 200 U.S. and foreign patents, PXG now sells a full line of golf clubs. PXG's professional staff includes PGA tour champions Zach Johnson, Pat Perez, Billy Horschel, James Hahn, Ryan Moore, Charl Schwartzel, Scott Langley, and Wyndham Clark and LPGA players Lydia Ko, Anna Nordqvist, Katherine Kirk, Austin Ernst, Christina Kim, Brittany Lang, Alison Lee, Celine Boutier, and Ryann O'Toole.


Real estate holdings

Since 2012, YAM Properties has purchased more than 675,000 square feet of commercial real estate in Arizona's Valley of the Sun region. YAM properties include: * Scottsdale Grayhawk Center, 147,084-square-foot retail plaza, acquired for $36.885 million * Retail and office projects Citadelle Plaza and II Palazzo, acquired for $27.3 million * Arrowhead Professional Center, a 71,066-square-foot office project, acquired for $13.25 million * Retail space in two properties that total 66,983 square feet, acquired for $8.575 million * McDowell Mountain Marketplace, an 84,087-square-foot retail center, acquired for $14.125 million * Centerpoint on Mill, a 127,027-square-foot mixed-use development, acquired for $38.35 million * Hayden Station, a 107,508-square-foot mixed-used development, acquired for $26.5 million * The Cornerstone shopping center, acquired for $29 million * Westgate Entertainment District, 533,000 square feet of retail, office and residential space; Located adjacent to
Gila River Arena Desert Diamond Arena (originally Glendale Arena and formerly Jobing.com Arena and Gila River Arena) is an indoor multi-purpose entertainment arena located in Glendale, Arizona. The venue anchors the 223-acre, $1 billion Westgate Entertainment D ...
, in
Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the la ...
. It was acquired in June 2018 for $133 million *Shops at Norterra, paid $108 million in cash for the open-air shopping and restaurant development at Interstate 17 and Happy Valley Road


The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation

In 2012, Bob and Renee Parsons established the Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation. Since then, the Foundation has awarded to more than 96 charities and organizations worldwide. A third of the total money awarded has been spent in local Arizonian charities. Bob Parsons was said to have resigned his position as executive
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
at GoDaddy in order to devote more time to his other interests, among them his foundation, while Renee Parsons manages the foundation on a day-to-day basis. They have joined Bill and Melinda Gates and
Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
's ''
The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, an ...
'' in 2010 and agreed to donate half their wealth to charity. Since its inception, The foundation has donated over $10 million on a yearly basis, placing it among the state's 10 biggest givers. The foundation receives funding requests from charities through its Web site, and subsequently evaluates them and makes donations based on the requesting charities needs. Its main focus areas can be categorized in disaster relief, veterans, and the
Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
community. After the
2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...
, The foundation pledged $500 thousand for Hope for Haiti and a further $4 million towards relief efforts. The Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation has supported several veterans' organizations, mainly the Semper Fi Fund, with donations exceeding $8.5 million, mostly in the form of matching donations. In or around Phoenix, Arizona, it has donated more than $8 million to United Methodist Outreach Centers (UMOM) and its New Day Centers, which the organization spent in part to pay off the mortgage for one of its biggest facilities. It has also donated at least $10 million to the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, helping it open its new center. Other projects the foundation was involved with include the
W. M. Keck Observatory The W. M. Keck Observatory is an astronomical observatory with two telescopes at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Both telescopes have aperture primary mirrors, and when comp ...
in Hawaii, which amounted to three grants totaling $3.7 million to upgrade its laser system; the Girl Scouts through the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program; $4 million in scholarship funds for theDream.us; a $1.5 million grant to the
Phoenix Children's Hospital Phoenix Children's Hospital is a freestanding pediatric acute care children's hospital located in Phoenix, Arizona. The hospital has 457 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. Phoenix Ch ...
in support of one of its community outreach programs; $1 million towards the
Barrow Neurological Institute Barrow Neurological Institute is the world's largest neurological disease treatment and research institution, and is consistently ranked as one of the best neurosurgical training centers in the United States. Founded in 1962, the main campus is ...
at
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center is a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, operated by Dignity Health. St. Joseph's is a 607-bed, not-for-profit hospital that provides a wide range of health, social and support ser ...
; $1.4 million for the Murphy Kids Dental Clinic; and $2 million to Circle the City, in order for the organization to launch a new
primary healthcare Primary health care, or PHC, refers to "essential health care" that is based on scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology. This makes universal health care accessible to all individuals and families in a community. PHC in ...
center.


Political activities

In 2012, Parsons donated $1 million to
Restore Our Future Restore Our Future is a political action committee (PAC) created to support Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. A so-called Super PAC, Restore Our Future is permitted to raise and spend unlimited amounts of corporate, union, and ...
, Mitt Romney's Super PAC. On December 8, 2016, Parsons donated $1 million to 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee. In the January 9, 2017 episode (around the 45:00 mark) of The Forward Podcast with
Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...
, Parsons proudly proclaimed "I'm a Deplorable!" and stated that
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
had been his early choice among the 17 major candidates in the
2016 Republican Primary Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that were se ...
. "
rump Rump may refer to: * Rump (animal) ** Buttocks * Rump steak, slightly different cuts of meat in Britain and America * Rump kernel, software run in userspace that offers kernel functionality in NetBSD Politics *Rump cabinet * Rump legislature * Ru ...
was the guy that always resonated with me. ..Everything so far he said he'd do he's done, which is almost unheard of in politics, he gets no credit for it! ..I think when everything is all said and done, he's gonna be one of the best presidents we've ever had."


Controversies

In 2011, Parsons was denounced by
animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...
and other groups for
tweeting Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, ...
a video in which he
shoots In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the spri ...
and kills an
elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
in
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. In response to the shooting,
Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...
called Parsons "insane" and "ridiculous."
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
said "It's definitely the kind of thing only a super rich CEO/founder of a held company could get away with." Parsons said, "elephants are not endangered and probably there are too many of them." According to
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...
elephants are listed as Schedule II. GoDaddy was criticized as
sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
for advertising practices between its first
Super Bowl ad Super Bowl commercials, colloquially known as Super Bowl ads, are high-profile television advertisement, television commercials featured in the U.S. television broadcast of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (N ...
in 2005 through the company's IPO in 2014. "The Go Daddy girl was my idea," Parsons said. "I told the ad agency, I want a really well-endowed, good-looking gal in a tight T-shirt, with our name right across her breasts." He used his blog to draw attention to ads that were rejected from television as too racy.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Bob 1950 births Living people American bloggers American computer businesspeople United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Businesspeople in information technology Giving Pledgers 21st-century philanthropists Golf people United States Marines University of Baltimore alumni People from Scottsdale, Arizona GoDaddy