Jack Carroll Massey (June 15, 1904 – February 15, 1990) was an American venture capitalist and entrepreneur who owned Kentucky Fried Chicken, co-founded the

Hospital Corporation of America HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owns and operates 186 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including sur ...

, and owned one of the largest franchisees of

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...

.Glenn Fowler
Jack C. Massey, an Entrepreneur In Hospitals and Food, Dies at 85
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', February 16, 1990Belmont University biography
/ref> He was the first American businessman to take three different companies public.

Early life

Massey was born in 1904 in

Tennille, Georgia Tennille is a city in Washington County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,539 at the 2010 census. History The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Tennille in 1875. The community was named after Francis Tennille, an early settler. G ...

. He graduated with a degree in pharmacy from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Business career

Massey began his business career working as a delivery boy in his uncle's drugstore. He then received a pharmacist's license when he was 19 and bought his first drugstore when he was 25. He built the store into a pharmacy chain, selling it six years later. He founded Massey Surgical Supply in 1930. He sold it to the A.S. Aloe division of the

Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Today, Brunswick has more than 13,000 employ ...

for $1 million. Massey acquired Kentucky Fried Chicken from its founder,

Harland Sanders Colonel Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand amba ...

, for $2 million in 1964. With John Y. Brown Jr., Massey embarked on a rapid expansion program, growing the business to approximately 3,500 franchises and grossing $700 million in annual revenue. Seven years later he sold the company to

Heublein Heublein Inc. (also known as Heublein Spirits) was an American producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages and food throughout the 20th century. During the 1960s and 1970s its stock was regarded as one of the most stable financial investments ...

for $239 million. In 1968, Massey co-founded

with Thomas F. Frist Sr. and Thomas F. Frist Jr. in Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Massey hired the Nashville law firm Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP to assist with the company's incorporation and later complete many healthcare mergers and acquisitions for several decades. The company became the nation's largest chain of for-profit hospitals and Massey left active management in 1978. Massey transformed Winners Corporation, one of the largest franchisees of Wendy's hamburger outlets into a major fast-food franchise operation. Finally, he listed Volunteer Capital Corporation (a holding company of Wendy's Restaurant fast food franchises) 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 ...

. Massey was an initial investor in the

Corrections Corporation of America CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasle ...

in the 1980s.

Philanthropy

Massey was a donor to

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

, where the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business was named in his honor. He also supported

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

and the

Montgomery Bell Academy Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. History MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861&nb ...

in Nashville. His alma mater, University of Florida, named the Jack C. Massey Professorship Fund for him. Massey was the founder of the Saint Thomas - Midtown Hospital in Nashville. He was also a donor to the

Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art Cheekwood is a historic estate on the western edge of Nashville, Tennessee that houses the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. Formerly the residence of Nashville's Cheek family, the Georgian-style mansion was opened as a botanical garden and art muse ...

and the

Tennessee Performing Arts Center The Tennessee Performing Arts Center, or TPAC, is located in the James K. Polk Cultural Center at 505 Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It occupies an entire city block between 5th and 6th Avenues North and Deaderick and Uni ...

in Nashville. Additionally, he made contributions to the Nashville and Palm Beach chapters of Planned Parenthood.

Personal life and death

His first wife, Elizabeth Polak Massey, died in 1968.Link to Gravestone
Find a Grave for Elizabeth Polak Massey He later married Alyne Queener. He had a daughter, Barbara Massey Rogers and three grandchildren. He also had an adopted son Don who pre-deceased him. Massey resided in Nashville. He was the owner of "403 feet of oceanfront property directly in front of

Mar-a-Lago Mar-a-Lago ( from the Spanish for ''sea to lake'') is a resort and national historic landmark in Palm Beach, Florida, owned by former U.S. president Donald Trump. Trump acquired Mar-a-Lago in 1985 and referred to it as his "Winter White House ...

" in Palm Beach, Florida, which

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 P ...

purchased for $2 million. Massey was a member of the Belle Meade Country Club in

Belle Meade, Tennessee Belle Meade is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee. Its total land area is , and its population was 2,912 at the time of the 2010 census. Belle Meade operates independently as a city, complete with its own regulations, a city hall, and police f ...

; the Everglades Club and the Bath and Tennis Club in Palm Beach, Florida; the Bathing Corporation and the Meadow Club in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

; and the

Links Club The Links is a private club in New York City. It is located at 36 East 62nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Charles_B._Macdonald, a golf champion and founder of the United States Golf Association, started the Links in 19 ...

in New York City. Massey died of pneumonia on February 15, 1990 at the Good Samaritan Medical Center in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, at age 85. His funeral was held at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Belle Meade, and he was buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville. His obituary in '' The Palm Beach Daily News'' called him "a legend in American business."

Bibliography

*Bill Carey, ''Master of the Big Board: The Life, Times and Business of Jack Massey'' (Cumberland House Publishing, 2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Jack C. 1904 births 1990 deaths People from Tennille, Georgia People from Nashville, Tennessee University of Florida alumni American philanthropists KFC people Wendy's International HCA Healthcare people Belmont University people CoreCivic people 20th-century American businesspeople Deaths from pneumonia in Florida Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville) American company founders