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Avnet

Avnet, Inc.
Public
Traded as AVT
S&P 400 Component
Industry Electronics
Founded 1921, New York City
Headquarters Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Key people
William Amelio, CEO
William H. Schumann, III, Executive Chairman
Kevin Moriarty, CFO
Revenue IncreaseUS$26.2B (FY 2016)
IncreaseUS$788M (FY 2016)
IncreaseUS$507M (FY 2016)
Total assets IncreaseUS$11.2B (FY 2016)
Total equity IncreaseUS$4.7B (FY 2016)
Number of employees
Approx. 17,700
Website www.avnet.com

Avnet, Inc. is a business-to-business technology distributor headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Avnet is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest global distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology.

In 1921, Charles Avnet, a 33-year-old Russian immigrant, began buying surplus radio parts and selling them to the public on the Radio Rows of United States port cities. In the mid-1920s, when factory-made radios began to replace radio parts, Avnet adjusted his distribution pipeline and began selling parts to manufacturers and dealers. During the Great Depression, Avnet shifted the focus from retailing to wholesaling.

In the mid-1920s to the early 1930s, Avnet diversified by branching out into car radio kits and automobile assembly kits. During World War II, Avnet made antennas for the U.S. armed forces. His son, Lester Avnet, joined the business at that time.

Avnet was incorporated in 1955. In 1956, a second connector assembly plant was opened near Los Angeles for the aircraft industry. In 1959, the company went public on the . In the mid-1960s, the company briefly owned several record labels including Liberty Records and Blue Note. Over the next ten years, Avnet expanded with several acquisitions in the new fields of semiconductors, relays, and potentiometers.

CEO leaders since the 1970s for Avnet have included Tony Hamilton, Leon Machiz, Roy Vallee, Rick Hamada and William Amelio(current). Under Vallee the company acquired 60 companies and grew globally. The company relocated its corporate headquarters to Phoenix (from Great Neck, NY) in 1998.

In July 2010, the company purchased Bell Microelectronics for $631M, at the time the largest acquisition in the company's history. In Sept 2016, Tech Data purchased Avnet Technology Solutions for $2.6B.

Industry analysts say the key to Avnet's long-term success is its supply chain management solutions, which include forecasting component demand, distribution management, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Just in Time delivery.


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