Eric Smidt

Eric L. Smidt is an American businessman. He is Chairman and CEO of Harbor Freight Tools, which operates over 1000 retail hardware stores in 47 states[2] and generated revenue of approximately $2 billion according to an April, 2012 Moody's Investors Service report.[3]

Not to be confused with Eric Schmidt, Eric Schmitt, or Erich Schmidt.
Eric Smidt
Born
Los Angeles, California, US
OccupationChairman & CEO Harbor Freight Tools
Net worthUS$3.1 billion (2018)[1]
Spouse(s)Susan Smidt

Biography

Smidt was born in Los Angeles, California in 1960 to Allan Smidt and Dorthy Smidt. His mother had multiple sclerosis and his father, overwhelmed, sent him to an orphanage when he was nine. Four years later he went to live with an aunt in Tennessee, returning home after two years but moving into his own apartment on his 16th birthday. He graduated from Grant High School in Van Nuys, a public school in Los Angeles. In 1977, as a teenager, Smidt started Harbor Freight Tools with his father in a small building in North Hollywood, California. Originally known as Harbor Freight & Salvage Co., the company began as a mail-order tool business. Eric introduced the company's defining innovation of cutting out the middleman and began to obtain tools directly from the factories to the customer.

In 1985, Smidt was named president of the company at the age of 25; he served under that title until 1999 when he became CEO.[4] In 2001, Smidt was listed as one of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurs of the year.[5]

Tenure as Chairman and CEO

In 2008, Eric responded to the turbulence in the global economy by implementing a company-wide reinvigoration plan. Eric and his team drove growth in company performance and a culture of continuous improvement. The team drove improvements that led to new products and lower prices for Harbor Freight customers.[6]

Philanthropy

Smidt has been a long-time supporter of Children's Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California and UCLA. In 2012, he funded a new public high school in Los Angeles known as "Smidt Tech" (also known as Alliance Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High) for Alliance College-Ready Public Schools (an independent non-profit charter school manager).[7]

In January 2013, Smidt directed Harbor Freight Tools to donate $1.4 million in tools and equipment to the Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) Career Technical Education program after learning that its annual budget was cut to one-quarter of what it was two years earlier. He named this program "Tools for Schools". He observed that "for far too long vocational education has not been given the attention and funding it deserves," and added that, "at a time when a well trained workforce is essential to compete in the global economy, the United States too often falls short."[8]

In August 2013, Smidt expanded the Tools for Schools program by donating a $100,000 gift of tools and equipment to vocational schools in and around Dillon County, South Carolina.[9]

Marking the opening of the 500th Harbor Freight Tools store near Chicago, CEO Eric Smidt announced the contribution of $100,000 and the donation of tools to Chicago Public Schools to support teachers and students in skilled trades learning and internships.[10]

In 2016, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans honored Harbor Freight Tools with its Outstanding Corporate Partner Award in recognition of the company's support for homeless veterans.[11]

Under Smidt’s leadership, Harbor Freight Tools has supported excellence in Career Technical Education to benefit teachers and students, providing donations to vocational classrooms via Donors Choose,[12] to the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers in New York City and Domus Academy's Work and Learn Program in Stamford, Connecticut. Additionally, new auto lifts were purchased for CEC Middle College in Denver, Colorado.

In 2015, Harbor Freight Tools established a program to fund requests from non-profit organizations in the U.S. to support veterans, police and fire departments, and public education causes.

To help fund disaster relief efforts across the country, Smidt, on behalf of Harbor Freight Tools, made a $250,000 donation to the American Red Cross.[13]

Smidt reportedly contributed $350,000 to support Mayor Eric Garcetti's effort to help Los Angeles secure the 2024 Olympic Games.[14]

On February 14, 2018, The Smidt Foundation made a $50 million gift to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to establish the Smidt Heart Institute. This gift, the largest single donation ever received by Cedars-Sinai, was earmarked to fund cardiovascular disease and cardiology research efforts. "It's important to support outstanding local institutions, and we want to help amplify Cedars-Sinai's impact on human health and wellbeing here and far beyond Los Angeles. We are humbled to play a role in their long tradition of savings lives and serving our community," said Eric Smidt in a press release.[15]

On March 22, 2020, Eric Smidt directed Harbor Freight to donate its entire supply of N95 masks, Face shields, and 5/7 mil Nitrile gloves to hospitals with a 24 hour emergency room.[16]

Personal life

Smidt is a collector of modern art and serves on the boards of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Portland Art Museum.[17] It is believed that Smidt is the current owner of Andy Warhol's 1963 painting Eight Elvises that sold for $100 million in 2008, making it Warhol's most valuable work to date.[18]

Smidt is a prominent Los Angeles Democrat who has hosted fundraiser dinners for both Bill and Hillary Clinton.[19] He is a friend of former Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, and he has donated money to help pay down the Mayor's ethics fines.[20] On March 4, 2013, LA Weekly reported that Smidt donated $50,000 to the Coalition for School Reform to elect Kate Anderson and Antonio Sanchez to the LAUSD Board of Education and to re-elect incumbent Monica Garcia. He also contributed $114,300 to a number of Democratic campaigns in 2012.[21]

Smidt has trained as a jet aircraft pilot with over 30 years of experience.[22]

References
  1. Harbor Freight Moody's Report
  2. Harbor Freight store locator map
  3. Harbor Freight Moody's Report
  4. About Harbor Freight
  5. Los Angeles 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year 2001
  6. About Harbor Freight
  7. SmidtTech.org
  8. Harbor Freight Tools Donates To LAUSD Adult Schools
  9. Harbor Freight Expands Tools for Schools Program
  10. 500 Stores– Harbor Freight’s Growth is Amazing!
  11. 2016 NCHV Annual Conference
  12. Donors Choose
  13. American Red Cross
  14. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti quietly fundraising for 2024 Summer Olympics bid
  15. "Harbor Freight Tools Owner and His Foundation Give $50M to Create Smidt Heart Institute". www.cedars-sinai.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  16. "A message from Harbor Freight". "www.dailykos.com. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  17. The 2014 ARTnews 200 Top Collectors
  18. "The 50 Wealthiest Angelenos: 41. Eric Smidt | Los Angeles Business Journal". labusinessjournal.com. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  19. Eric Smidt - Co Chair of Hillary Clinton Fundraiser
  20. LA Weekly Ticketgate: Fabian Nuñez, Schwarzenegger BFF, Pays It Forward, Helps L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa With His Ethics Fines
  21. LA Weekly Eric Smidt, L.A. Dem Who Owns Harbor Freight Tools, Gives $50,000 to Elect Kate Anderson, Antonio Sanchez and Monica Garcia to LAUSD
  22. Eric Smidt Bio, HarborFreight.com
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