HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Richard Randall Rollins (November 5, 1931 – August 17, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman, and the chairman of
Rollins Inc. Rollins, Inc. is a North American pest control company serving residential and commercial clients. Operating globally through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Orkin, Inc., PCO Services (now Orkin Canada), HomeTeam Pest Defense, Western Pest Serv ...
, the US's largest pest control conglomerate, which includes the
Orkin Orkin is an American company that provides residential and commercial pest control services. The company was founded in 1901 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Rollins Inc. in 1964. Orkin has held research collaborations with universities a ...
Exterminating Company. Rollins was a veteran of the U.S. coast guard.


Early life

R. Randall Rollins (known as "Triple R") was born on November 5, 1931 in Georgia. He was the son of
O. Wayne Rollins Orville Wayne Rollins (1912–1991) is the co-founder, with his younger brother John W. Rollins, of Rollins Inc., the US's largest pest control conglomerate. Early life Rollins was born in Ringgold, Georgia, in 1912, the son of John William Ro ...
, and Grace Crum Rollins. He had a younger brother Gary Rollins. Rollins grew up on his grandparents' farm near
Ringgold, Georgia Ringgold is a city in and the county seat of Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,414 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Ringgold was founded in 184 ...
. His father and his uncle, John W. Rollins, would later move on from farming to business ventures. After he graduated high school, Randall worked for his uncle and father, and learned company operations. He then served in the
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
until 1953.R. Randall Rollins-obituary
/ref>


Career

His father and uncle purchased a radio station in Radford, Virginia which became the Rollins Broadcasting company. His uncle also owned the Rollins Leasing company. After his Coast Guard discharge, Randall went to work for both family companies. In 1961, Rollins Broadcasting went public. By 1964, Rollins Broadcasting grew to 10 radio and TV stations. That same year the company had the fourth largest outdoor advertising company in the U.S.. The company diversified to citrus farms and personal hygiene when it acquired Satin Soft cosmetics. In 1964, Rollins Broadcasting purchased the Orkin Exterminating Company for $62.4 million in the first leveraged buyout in the history of the U.S. Randall was named the head of Orkin while he continued to work on expanding Rollins Broadcasting. His brother Gary worked alongside him on the family businesses, under the umbrella of Rollins Inc. By 1969, Rollins’ revenues had grown to more than $106 million. In 1984, Rollins Inc. split into three companies, all publicly traded. Rollins, Inc. (pest control via Orkin), Rollins Communications (media and advertising), and RPC Energy Services Inc. (oil and gas services). Randall was named the president and chief operating officer of Rollins Communications, the chairman of the board of Rollins Inc., and the chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, and chief operating officer of RPC Energy Services. In 2001, Marine Products Corporation formed as a spinoff company from RPC Energy Services. He was also chairman of Marine Products Corporation. The company manufactures fiberglass boats under brands Chaparral, Robalo and Vortex. He was also director of Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment, Inc, and Dover Motorsports. In 2014, Rollins was listed on The Forbes 400 list. He was ranked No. 225 due to his estimated net worth of $2.7 billion. In August 2020, ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' estimated his net worth at
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5.1 billion, ranking him 148 on the Forbes 400.


Philanthropy

In 1991, he and his wife Peggy established the Peggy and Randall Rollins Foundation, which would later be renamed the Ma-Ran Foundation. The charitable foundation primarily supports organizations and projects pertaining to education, health organizations, community resources, human services, and faith-based initiatives. In July 2016, Randall and Peggy donated $1 million through the Ma-Ran Foundation to create the new Lewes Public Library in Lewes, Delaware. The former Lewes library was renamed the Margaret H. Rollins Community Center. Rollins donated to various Atlanta-based organizations, including the
Winship Cancer Institute Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is a nonprofit cancer research and patient care center based in Atlanta, Georgia. Winship Cancer Institute is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Georgia. His ...
; he also helped establish the
Rollins School of Public Health The Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) is the public health school of Emory University. Founded in 1990, Rollins has more than 1,100 students pursuing master's degrees ( MPH/MSPH) and over 150 students pursuing doctorate degrees ( PhD). Th ...
in 1990. In 2018, the R. Randall Rollins Charitable Lead Annuity Trust and the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation issued donations to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In 2019, the foundation donated $65 million to fund the R. Randall Rollins building at Emory. The foundation has also the Candler School of Theology and the O. Wayne Rollins Research Center. In 2020, Randall and Peggy donated $1 million to the COVID-19 Relief Fund at Beebe Healthcare. In March 2022, after Randall’s death in 2020, the Beebe Medical Foundation announced it had received a $3 million gift from the Rollins family to found the R. Randall Rollins Center for Medical Education.


Controversies

In August 2010, the four children of Randall’s brother Gary filed a lawsuit against both Gary and Randall that alleged mismanagement of the children’s trust. His nephew, Glen Rollins, the lead plaintiff married to Danielle, sued over "rightful cash allocations". Glen's three siblings have all joined him in the lawsuit, as did his mother Ruthie, who filed for divorce from Gary at about the same time. Randall Rollins' five children took their father's and Gary's side in the suit. Glen and Danielle have also begun divorce proceedings. The family's "pest control empire" is worth about $8 billion. Following nine years of litigation, the parties reached a confidential settlement agreement.


Personal life

He was married to Peggy Hastings in 1953 They had a total of six children. While living in Lewes, Delaware, the couple had their two eldest children. The family would later relocate to Wilmington, DE before making their home in Atlanta, Georgia. One of his children, Rita Anne Rollins, predeceased Randall. The other Rollins children are Richard, Pamela, Robert, Timothy, and Amy. He and his wife were members of the Lewes Yacht Club. Rollins died on August 17, 2020, after a "brief illness", aged 88.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rollins, Richard Randall 1931 births 2020 deaths People from Ringgold, Georgia Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) American chairpersons of corporations American billionaires