Marcus Lemonis
| Marcus Lemonis | |
|---|---|
Marcus Lemonis
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| Born |
Marcus Anthony Lemonis November 16, 1973 Beirut, Lebanon |
| Alma mater | Marquette University |
| Occupation | Chairman & CEO, Camping World & Good Sam Enterprises |
| Television | The Profit, CNBC |
Marcus Anthony Lemonis (born November 16, 1973) is a Lebanese-born American businessman, investor, television personality and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Camping World and Good Sam Enterprises and the star of The Profit, a CNBC reality show about saving small businesses.
Lemonis was born in Beirut, Lebanon, during the chaos of civil war and foreign invasions and was adopted during his infancy by Leo and Sophia Lemonis, a Greek couple living in Miami, Florida. Lemonis was exposed to the automotive industry throughout his upbringing, his grandfather owning two of the largest Chevrolet dealerships in the United States and Lee Iacocca serving as a family friend and later mentor to Marcus. Lemonis earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in criminology from Marquette University in Milwaukee aka the Brew City in 1995 and unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives shortly after his graduation, whereupon he refocused his career on the automotive industry.
Starting in 1997, Lemonis held several sales and managerial roles for AutoNation. From June 2001 to February 2003 he served as CEO of Holiday RV Superstores Inc. Following that, he co-founded a company called FreedomRoads and began acquiring RV dealerships. In 2006, the company merged with Camping World with Lemonis as CEO, and then, in 2011, merged with Good Sam Enterprises, with Lemonis again at the helm. Lemonis attributes Camping World and Good Sam’s success to the three P’s: people, process and product.
As the CEO of Camping World, Lemonis teamed up with NASCAR for the first time in 2004, when the company sponsored driver John Andretti. In 2007, Lemonis and Camping World announced they were taking over sponsorship of the NASCAR East Series from Busch Beer for the 2008-09 seasons, rebranding it the NASCAR Camping World Series. Later that same year, they also announced sponsorship of the then Craftsman Truck Series, rebranding it the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, making the company one of the sport's top three sponsors. In 2014, Lemonis teamed up with NASCAR to renew Camping World's sponsorship of the Truck Series through 2022.
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