William C. Rhodes (businessman)
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William C. Rhodes III | |
|---|---|
| Education | University of Tennessee at Martin |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Executive Chairman of AutoZone, Inc. |
William C. Rhodes III is the Executive Chairman and former President and Chief Executive Officer of AutoZone, Inc.
Rhodes is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin with an accounting degree. He also earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Memphis.
Rhodes graduated from Craigmont High School, Memphis, TN and the University of Tennessee at Martin where he was on the golf team.[1]
Career
AutoZone
William C. Rhodes III began his career at AutoZone in 1994. Before this, he was a manager at Ernst & Young LLP.[2] He was President and Chief Executive Officer of AutoZone, Inc.,[3] a Fortune 300 company.[4] He was named to those positions on March 13, 2005,[5] following more than 12 years with the company where he served in a variety of executive-level roles.[6] In 2007, he was named chairman of the company.[2] In January 2024, Rhodes stepped down as president and CEO of AutoZone and assumed the role of Executive Chairman.[7]
According to annual proxy filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Rhodes's 2005 compensation from AutoZone totaled over US$8.5M.[8] While CEO of AutoZone in 2009, Rhodes earned a total compensation of $3,052,765, which included a base salary of $752,385, a cash bonus of $1,017,977, stocks granted of $21,270, options granted of $1,138,717, and other compensation totaling $122,416.[9] Business Insider listed him as one of the 25 most underpaid CEOs in 2010.[10] He was among the best-performing CEOs in 2014 and among the highest-paid CEOs in 2016.[11][12] In 2023, Rhodes's total compensation at AutoZone was $18.8 million, or 705 times what the median employee at AutoZone earned that same year.[13]