For the first time in its history, Hughes Supply Inc., Orlando, will name a non-family member to the helm of the company.
The Hughes Supply Inc. board of directors recently announced its plans for CEO succession. Effective at its annual meeting in May, the board will appoint its president, Tom Morgan, to the additional post of CEO.
In Hughes' 75-year history, the company has had only three other chief executive officers. The first CEO was Russell Hughes, the second was Harry Hughes, and in 1974 David Hughes was elected to the office of CEO. For continuity and for the company to benefit from his years of experience, Hughes will remain as chairman of the board.
David Hughes said, “Tom Morgan was recruited two years ago to serve as president and COO. Prior to joining Hughes, Tom learned the distribution business with more than 20 years at Genuine Parts Co. In his short time with us, Tom has led the way to continued improvement and has proven to be the person we need to take our company to the next level.”
Hughes began his career with the company on a part-time basis while attending high school. Upon graduation from law school in 1967, he joined the company on a full-time basis. In 1972, Hughes was promoted to the office of president and in 1974 to the office of chief executive officer. In 1986 he was elected to the additional office of chairman of the board.
Under his leadership, the company grew from a local distributor of building supplies with sales of $30 million to one of the nation's largest wholesale distributors of construction materials with more than 450 branches in 34 states and sales exceeding $3 billion.