5 Big Companies Ruined By Their Founders
#1 Best Buy
Founder: Richard Schulze
Percent voting share: 20.24 percent
Date founded: 1966
The company was founded by Richard M. Schulze and Gary Smoliak in 1966 as an audio specialty store; in 1983, it was renamed and rebranded with more emphasis placed on consumer electronics.
Best Buy founder Richard Schulze has presided over a company that has struggled to stay relevant in a sector that is increasingly moving online. Best Buy’s business has taken a sizable hit from online retailers such as Amazon.com. Some industry experts and analysts point out that Best Buy is increasingly becoming a showroom for electronics consumers — meaning that people go to the store to check out the product only to buy it online at a lower price. In the most recent quarter, Best Buy lost $10 million as revenue fell 4 percent compared to the previous year. The company’s share price is approximately one-third of what it was five years ago. Schulze has also found himself embroiled in a company sex scandal. The founder received criticism after an internal investigation found that he did not report that information to the board despite knowing about Dunn’s affair. Schulze announced his retirement from the board shortly after that investigation.
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