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Edited early life to include some brief info about family. Corrected previous copy that suggested the rice hulls business was unsuccessful. Removed some biographically irrelevant copy.
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==Early life and career==
==Early life and career==
Hunt was born in Cleburne County near [[Heber Springs, Arkansas]].<ref name=":0" /> His first job was working for his uncle at a [[sawmill]]. After a stint in the [[United States Army|US Army]], Hunt spent the 1950s as a [[lumber]] salesman, [[auctioneer]], and [[truck driver]]. He married [[Johnelle Hunt|Johnelle DeBusk]] in 1952, and they had a daughter, Jane, in 1954, and a son, Bryan, in 1960.
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Hunt was born in [[Heber Springs, Arkansas]]. Growing up during the [[Great Depression]] was stressful.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/business/08hunt.html|title=Johnnie B. Hunt, 79, Trucking Company Owner, Is Dead|first=Steve|last=Barnes|date=8 December 2006|access-date=4 December 2017|website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>


His first job was working for his uncle at a [[sawmill]]. After a stint in the [[United States Army|US Army]], Hunt spent the 1950s as a [[lumber]] salesman, [[auctioneer]], and [[truck driver]] before starting a [[rice hulls]] business with his wife [[Johnelle Hunt|Johnelle]] in 1961. His first attempt at the trucking business was unsuccessful, losing roughly $19,000.<ref name="fleetowner.com">{{cite web|url=http://fleetowner.com/news/topstory/jb_hunt_retires_123004/|title=A legend leaves the trucking stage|date=30 December 2004|website=Fleetowner.com|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref><ref>Smith, J., "In Memoriam, J.B. Hunt", ''World Trade Magazine'', February 2007, p. 62</ref> He returned to the trucking industry in 1969, with five tractors and seven trailers.<ref name="fleetowner.com"/>
Hunt started a [[rice hulls]] business with his wife [[Johnelle Hunt|Johnelle]] in 1961. After initially losing $19,000,<ref name="fleetowner.com">{{cite web|url=http://fleetowner.com/news/topstory/jb_hunt_retires_123004/|title=A legend leaves the trucking stage|date=30 December 2004|website=Fleetowner.com|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=":0">Smith, J., "In Memoriam, J.B. Hunt", ''World Trade Magazine'', February 2007, p. 62</ref> the business became the world's largest producer of [[poultry litter]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Salpukas |first=Agis |date=1992-06-21 |title=When Trucks and Trains Unite |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/21/business/when-trucks-and-trains-unite.html |access-date=2024-06-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 1969, Hunt purchased a small trucking operation with five tractors and seven trailers, at first as a support for the rice hulls business. By 1983, the operation had grown into the 80th largest trucking firm in the U.S. The same year, Hunt sold his rice hull operation, and [[Jb Hunt Transport Services Inc|J. B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.,]] went public, offering more than one million shares of stock.<ref name=":1" />

Hunt was generous. He carried a money clip containing $100 bills, which he would hand out to people he felt were needy.<ref name="auto"/>


==Retirement==
==Retirement==
Hunt stepped down as president of his company in 1982 but remained a fixture, staying on as chairman of the board until 1995. On December 31, 2004, Hunt retired but remained the company's largest shareholder.<ref name="fleetowner.com"/> Although retired, Hunt visited the headquarters in Lowell, Arkansas frequently, to shake hands and converse with employees. He regularly telephoned the executive assistants to ask "What's the stock doing, Darling?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.beaconwealth.com/this-months-shining-light-spotlight-j-b-hunt|title=This Month's Shining Light Spotlight: J.B. Hunt|website=www.beaconwealth.com|date=16 May 2019|access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref>
Hunt stepped down as president of his company in 1982 but remained a fixture, staying on as chairman of the board until 1995. On December 31, 2004, Hunt retired but remained the company's largest shareholder.<ref name="fleetowner.com"/>

⚫
Hunt was generous. He carried a money clip containing $100 bills, which he would hand out to people he felt were needy.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last=Barnes |first=Steve |date=8 December 2006 |title=Johnnie B. Hunt, 79, Trucking Company Owner, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/business/08hunt.html |access-date=4 December 2017 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>


In 2005, Springdale Public Schools opened a new elementary school named after Hunt. The Hunt family donated the land for the school, valued in excess of $500,000. This K-5 elementary school is located on Silent Grove Road in [[Springdale, Arkansas]]. Hunt was a frequent visitor to the school after it opened.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
In 2005, Springdale Public Schools opened a new elementary school named after Hunt. The Hunt family donated the land for the school, valued in excess of $500,000. This K-5 elementary school is located on Silent Grove Road in [[Springdale, Arkansas]]. Hunt was a frequent visitor to the school after it opened.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}


In early 2006, Hunt bought the site of the abandoned [[Superconducting Super Collider]] in [[Waxahachie]], [[Texas]], for $6.5 million, hoping to turn it into a secure data storage facility.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2010/12/abandoned-remains-of-superconducting.html|title=The Abandoned Remains of the Superconducting Super Collider|website=www.amusingplanet.com|access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> His death at a hospital in [[Springdale, Arkansas]], on December 7, 2006, after sustaining a head injury in a fall on ice five days earlier, put an end to this project.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061207/obit_hunt.html?.v=2|title=Yahoo Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News|website=Biz.yahoo.com|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref> The property was sold to the chemical company Magnablend for $5 million in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.waxahachietx.com/article/20120131/News/301319859|title=Magnablend acquires Superconducting Super Collider facility|website=www.waxahachietx.com|date=31 January 2012|access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref>
In early 2006, Hunt bought the site of the abandoned [[Superconducting Super Collider]] in [[Waxahachie]], [[Texas]], for $6.5 million, hoping to turn it into a secure data storage facility.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2010/12/abandoned-remains-of-superconducting.html|title=The Abandoned Remains of the Superconducting Super Collider|website=www.amusingplanet.com|access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> His death at a hospital in [[Springdale, Arkansas]], on December 7, 2006, after sustaining a head injury in a fall on ice five days earlier, put an end to this project.<ref name="auto" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061207/obit_hunt.html?.v=2|title=Yahoo Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News|website=Biz.yahoo.com|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref>


==Awards and honors==
==Awards and honors==

Revision as of 18:34, 24 June 2024

Johnnie Bryan Hunt
Hunt in 2004
Born
Johnnie Bryan Hunt, Sr

February 28, 1927[1]
Heber Springs, Arkansas U.S.
DiedDecember 7, 2006(2006-12-07) (aged 79)
Springdale, Arkansas U.S
Occupation(s)Founder and C.E.O. of J. B. Hunt Transport Services. (1961–2004)
SpouseJohnelle Hunt (m. 1952; his death 2006)[2]

Johnnie Bryan Hunt, Sr. (J. B. Hunt) (February 28, 1927 – December 7, 2006), was an American entrepreneur who founded J.B. Hunt Transport Services, the largest publicly owned trucking company in the US. The company is based in Lowell, Arkansas.

Early life and career

Hunt was born in Cleburne County near Heber Springs, Arkansas.[3] His first job was working for his uncle at a sawmill. After a stint in the US Army, Hunt spent the 1950s as a lumber salesman, auctioneer, and truck driver. He married Johnelle DeBusk in 1952, and they had a daughter, Jane, in 1954, and a son, Bryan, in 1960.

Hunt started a rice hulls business with his wife Johnelle in 1961. After initially losing $19,000,[4][3] the business became the world's largest producer of poultry litter.[5][6] In 1969, Hunt purchased a small trucking operation with five tractors and seven trailers, at first as a support for the rice hulls business. By 1983, the operation had grown into the 80th largest trucking firm in the U.S. The same year, Hunt sold his rice hull operation, and J. B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., went public, offering more than one million shares of stock.[6]

Retirement

Hunt stepped down as president of his company in 1982 but remained a fixture, staying on as chairman of the board until 1995. On December 31, 2004, Hunt retired but remained the company's largest shareholder.[4]

Hunt was generous. He carried a money clip containing $100 bills, which he would hand out to people he felt were needy.[7]

In 2005, Springdale Public Schools opened a new elementary school named after Hunt. The Hunt family donated the land for the school, valued in excess of $500,000. This K-5 elementary school is located on Silent Grove Road in Springdale, Arkansas. Hunt was a frequent visitor to the school after it opened.[citation needed]

In early 2006, Hunt bought the site of the abandoned Superconducting Super Collider in Waxahachie, Texas, for $6.5 million, hoping to turn it into a secure data storage facility.[6] His death at a hospital in Springdale, Arkansas, on December 7, 2006, after sustaining a head injury in a fall on ice five days earlier, put an end to this project.[7][8]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "J.%20B.%20and%20Johnelle%20Hunt Interviews".
  2. ^ "Johnelle Hunt: Notes on Leading a Billion-Dollar Company, Raising a Family".
  3. ^ a b Smith, J., "In Memoriam, J.B. Hunt", World Trade Magazine, February 2007, p. 62
  4. ^ a b "A legend leaves the trucking stage". Fleetowner.com. 30 December 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  5. ^ Salpukas, Agis (1992-06-21). "When Trucks and Trains Unite". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  6. ^ a b c "The Abandoned Remains of the Superconducting Super Collider". www.amusingplanet.com. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  7. ^ a b Barnes, Steve (8 December 2006). "Johnnie B. Hunt, 79, Trucking Company Owner, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Yahoo Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News". Biz.yahoo.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  10. ^ "Inductees: Arkansas Business Hall of Fame". walton.uark.edu. U of A Walton College, Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
  11. ^ "Inductees: Arkansas Business Hall of Fame". drivers.jbhunt.com. J.B. Hunt Driver Blog. 6 October 2016.
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