William Charles Schultz (July 30, 1926 – September 21, 2006) was the CEO of

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturing company, manufacturer of Musical instrument, instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equip ...

, and is credited as the "man who saved Fender."

Biography

Born at

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. I ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, Schultz graduated as an engineer from the

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

in 1965 and went to work for

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. While working at Bendix Aerospace on radar tracking devices for the Apollo program, he got a master's in aerospace engineering. In 1971 he received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

and got a job at CBS. Schultz worked at

Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle d ...

when he was asked to become the company president of Fender in 1981 by then-president of CBS Musical Instruments, John C. McLaren. When CBS decided to sell the struggling company in 1985, Schultz and several other employees purchased it. Schultz was among the management team who recommended CBS to start an alternate production of Japanese Fenders in 1982, as the company's sales suffered from the onslaught of copies produced by Japanese manufacturers such as Tokai and

Fernandes Guitars Fernandes Guitars is a Japanese guitar and accessory manufacturer. It originated in 1969 as a builder of flamenco guitars. As the company grew, it expanded production to include electric guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers, and accessories to become ...

. Schultz (and through him, Fender) became a major donor to

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pitts ...

, which honored him in 2001 with a Lifetime Achievement Award and a week of concerts. He retired in 2005 and was replaced by Mendello, though he remained on the board of directors. Schultz died in 2006 of cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Bill Fender people 1926 births 2006 deaths Rutgers University alumni New Jersey Institute of Technology alumni Bethlehem Steel people Bendix Corporation people