Eric L. Smidt (born 1960) is an American businessman. He is chairman and
CEO of
Harbor Freight Tools
Harbor Freight Tools, commonly referred to as Harbor Freight, is a privately held tool and equipment retailer, headquartered in Calabasas, California, United States. It operates a chain of retail stores, as well as an e-commerce business. The com ...
, which operates over 1,300 retail
hardware stores in 48 states and generated revenue of approximately $6.5 billion according to an August 2021
Los Angeles Business Journal
The ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', established in 1979, is a weekly newspaper and online news source in Los Angeles, California, which provides coverage of local business news. According to the ''Journals website, it has a weekly print circul ...
report.
Early life
Smidt was born in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, in 1960 to Allan Smidt and Dorthy Smidt. His mother had multiple sclerosis and his father, overwhelmed, sent him to an orphanage when he was nine. Four years later, he went to live with an aunt in Tennessee, returning home after two years, before moving into his own apartment on his 16th birthday. He graduated from
Grant High School in
Van Nuys, a public school in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
In 1977, as a teenager, Smidt started
Harbor Freight Tools
Harbor Freight Tools, commonly referred to as Harbor Freight, is a privately held tool and equipment retailer, headquartered in Calabasas, California, United States. It operates a chain of retail stores, as well as an e-commerce business. The com ...
with his father in a small building in
North Hollywood
North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
, California. Originally known as Harbor Freight & Salvage Co., the company began as a
mail-order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
* Sending an order form in the mail
* Placing a telephone call
* Placing ...
tool business. Eric introduced the company's defining innovation, which was cutting out the middleman, and began to send
tools directly from the factories to the customer.
Tenure as Chairman and CEO
In 1985, Smidt was named president at age 25; he served under that title until 1999, when he became CEO. In 2001, Smidt was listed as one of
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...
's Entrepreneurs of the year.
In 2008, Eric responded to the turbulence in the
global economy by implementing a company-wide reinvigoration plan. The program led to new products and lower prices.
Philanthropy
Smidt is the founder and president of The Smidt Foundation. With assets of approximately $200 million, the foundation's signature program, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, supports skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools.
A long-time supporter of Los Angeles-area charitable organizations, Smidt in 2012 funded a new public high school in Los Angeles known as "
Smidt Tech" (also known as Alliance Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High) for
Alliance College-Ready Public Schools (an independent non-profit charter school manager).
In January 2013, Smidt directed Harbor Freight Tools to donate $1.4 million in tools and equipment to the
Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) Career Technical Education program after learning that its annual budget was cut to one-quarter of what it was two years earlier. He named this program "Tools for Schools." He observed that "for far too long vocational education has not been given the attention and funding it deserves," and added that, "at a time when a well-trained workforce is essential to compete in the global economy, the United States too often falls short."
In August 2013, Smidt expanded the Tools for Schools program by donating a $100,000 gift of tools and equipment to vocational schools in and around
Dillon County, South Carolina
Dillon County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 28,292, down from 32,062 in 2010. The county seat is Dillon.
Founded in 1910 from a portion of Marion County, both Di ...
. Harbor Freight Tools for Schools awards more than $1 million to skilled trades teachers and their schools annually.
Marking the opening of the 500th Harbor Freight Tools store near
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
, Smidt announced the contribution of $100,000 and the donation of tools to
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles.
...
to support teachers and students in skilled trades learning and internships.
In 2015, Harbor Freight Tools established a program to fund requests from
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
s in the U.S. to support veterans, police and fire departments, and public education causes.
In 2016, the
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans honored Harbor Freight Tools with its Outstanding Corporate Partner Award in recognition of the company's support for
homeless veterans Homeless veterans are persons who have served in the armed forces who are homeless or living without access to secure and appropriate accommodation.
Background
Many of these veterans suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorde ...
.
Under Smidt's leadership, Harbor Freight Tools has supported excellence in Career Technical Education to benefit teachers and students, providing donations to vocational classrooms via Donors Choose, to the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, and Domus Academy's Work and Learn Program in
Stamford, Connecticut. Additionally, new auto lifts were purchased for CEC Middle College in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
.
To help fund
disaster relief efforts across the country, Smidt, on behalf of Harbor Freight Tools, made a $250,000 donation to the
American Red Cross.
Smidt reportedly contributed $350,000 to support Mayor
Eric Garcetti
Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 until 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 election, and reelected in 2017. A fo ...
's effort to help Los Angeles secure the 2024 Olympic Games.
On February 14, 2018, The Smidt Foundation made a $50 million gift to
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
to establish the Smidt Heart Institute. This gift, the largest single donation then received by Cedars-Sinai, was earmarked to fund cardiovascular disease and cardiology research efforts. "It's important to support outstanding local institutions, and we want to help amplify Cedars-Sinai's impact on human health and wellbeing here and far beyond Los Angeles. We are humbled to play a role in their long tradition of savings lives and serving our community," said Eric Smidt in a press release.
On March 22, 2020, Eric Smidt directed Harbor Freight to donate its entire supply of
N95 masks
An N95 filtering facepiece respirator, commonly abbreviated N95 respirator, is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtratio ...
, Face shields, and 5/7 mil Nitrile gloves to hospitals with a 24-hour emergency room.
In June 2022, Eric & Susan Smidt donated $5 million to the
Holocaust Museum LA, which will allow the museum to double its campus in
Pan Pacific Park.
Personal life
Smidt is a collector of
modern art and serves on the board of the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 19 ...
.
Smidt is a prominent Los Angeles
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
who has hosted fundraiser dinners for both
Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. He is a friend of former
Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillar ...
, and he helped pay down the Mayor's
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
fines. On March 4, 2013,
LA Weekly reported that Smidt donated $50,000 to the Coalition for School Reform to elect Kate Anderson and Antonio Sanchez to the LAUSD Board of Education and to re-elect incumbent Monica Garcia. He contributed $114,300 to Democratic campaigns in 2012.
In 2010, Smidt was sued by his parents for "looting" Harbor Freight Tools.
In 2022, Smidt purchased a $350-million
megayacht.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smidt, Eric
1960 births
Living people
American aviators
American philanthropists
American retail chief executives
California Democrats
Grant High School (Los Angeles) alumni