Michael Krasny (born 1953) is an American
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 ...
businessman from
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. He is the founder and former chief executive officer of
CDW Corporation, a direct seller of technical gadgets including computers and networking equipment.
Early life
Krasny grew up in a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family
Jewish Telegraph Agency: "At least 139 of the Forbes 400 are Jewish" By Jacob Berkman
October 5, 2009 in Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. He graduated from the University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
Gies College of Business
Gies College of Business is the business school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a Public university, public research university in Champaign, Illinois. The college offers undergraduate program, masters programs, and a PhD program ...
in 1975.
He worked as a Toyota car salesman at his father's auto dealership in Arlington Heights, Illinois. In 1981, he quit his job as a car salesman and took some classes in computer programming but being unsuccessful in finding steady work, Krasny was forced to sell his own computer for cash. He placed a $3 ad in the Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
and ended up selling his computer for a $200 profit.[CRN: "Michael Krasny – IT Sales Innovator" by Jeff O'Heir]
November 13, 2002
Career and retirement
Seeing the great demand for computers, Krasny began buying computers to resell them eventually forming MPK Computers. A year later he changed the name to Computer Discount Warehouse (CDW) and steadily grew the business. In 1993, he took CDW public. Krasny retired in 2007 after selling the company to Madison Dearborn Partners
Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts of privately held or publicly traded companies, or divisions of larger companies; recapitalizations of family-owned or closely held companies; ba ...
for $7.3 billion.
According to ''Forbes'', his first caller from 1982 was still a customer as of 200
Since 2009, as a hobby, Krasny has operated a woodworking shop in Northbrook, Illinois called Custom Woodworking Design, making plaques and awards.
Personal life
Krasny is married, with one child, and they live in Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located o ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasny, Michael
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American automobile salespeople
American retail chief executives
Gies College of Business alumni
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
20th-century American Jews
American billionaires
People from Highland Park, Illinois
1950s births
21st-century American Jews