E. Bronson Ingram II (1931–1995) was an American billionaire heir and business executive. He served as the Chairman of Ingram Industries from 1963 to 1995.Tennessee Encyclopedia
/ref>Leslie Eaton, 'E. Bronson Ingram, Who Built Family Concern Into Giant, 63', in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', June 21, 199

/ref>Cythia Manley, 'Cancer Center helps carry on E. Bronson Ingram's legacy', in ''Reporter''

E. Bronson Ingram II '53, in ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'', September 13, 1995 'E. Bronson Ingram; Ran Oil and Barge Firm', in ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', June 22, 199

/ref> He was a director and large shareholder of

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

. He was tried and acquitted of corruption regarding a Chicago sewage deal in the 1970s.

Early life

Erskine Bronson Ingram II was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

on November 27, 1931, the son of

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. Many national currencies have, or ...

businessman Orrin Henry Ingram, Sr. and Hortense Bigelow Ingram. He was named after his grandfather.Ingram Marine Group history
His family moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1948. E. Bronson Ingram was educated at the

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

and

Montgomery Bell Academy Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. The school is located in the Whitland Area Neighborhood. History MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American ...

. He attended college at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

and transferred to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, graduating in 1953. At Princeton, he majored in English, and belonged to the Republican Club.

Career

E.B. Ingram joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

, when he sailed to

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

on a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

until 1955, when he resigned. He then started working for his father's company, the Ingram Oil & Refining Co., later known as the Ingram Corporation. In particular, he managed the company-owned

service stations Service station may refer to: * Filling station, a gasoline or petrol station * Automobile repair shop, a place where automobiles are repaired * Service centre or rest area, a public facility on motorways or controlled-access highways for resti ...

and helped build

truck stop A truck stop (known as a service station in the United Kingdom, a travel center by major chains in the United States and a roadhouse in rural Australia) is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made f ...

s where Ingram truckers could sleep, shower, or eat. After the death of his father in 1963, E.B. Ingram became President and his brother, Frederic B. Ingram, became Chairman of the Ingram Corporation. In 1976, E. Bronson and his brother Frederic were indicted for bribing officials in Illinois for a "$48 million Chicago sewage contract". E.B. Ingram was acquitted but his brother Frederic was convicted. By 1978, they split the company. Frederic kept the Ingram Corporation, which consisted of

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied pet ...

and

pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

system, headquartered in New Orleans. E.B. Ingram took over the Tennessee Book Company, Ingram Materials Company, Ingram Barge Company, and Bluewater Insurance Company. He called it Ingram Industries. By 1995, the Ingram Barge Company became the Inland Marine Transportation Group, the third-largest inland waterway carrier in the United States. In 1970, the Tennessee Book Company became known as the Ingram Book Company, and by 1995 it controlled 52 percent of the wholesale book distribution market to American retail bookstores. He also founded Ingram Software; in 1985 it acquired Micro D and morphed into Ingram Micro Incorporated. It quickly became the largest distributor of microcomputer hardware and software in the world. E.B. Ingram Ingram also founded

Ingram Entertainment Ingram Entertainment Inc. was an American distributor of home entertainment products, like DVDs, audiobooks, video game software and hardware. Ingram Entertainment Inc, was at one time the nation's largest distributor of DVD software. History Th ...

, the largest wholesale distributor of pre-recorded videocassettes. He served on the Board of Directors of

. In 1988, he owned 222,380 shares. He served as the President of the

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, located on the Cumberland River. Nashville had a population of 689,447 at the 20 ...

in 1987, and later as Vice-Chairman of the Tennessee Industrial and Agricultural Development Commission.

Philanthropy

E. Bronson Ingram held leadership positions in the

Tennessee Performing Arts Center The Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) is located in the James K. Polk Cultural Center at 505 Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It occupies a city block between 5th and 6th Avenues North and Deaderick and Union Streets. ...

in the late 1970s and the state Bicentennial Celebration of 1996. He joined the Vanderbilt Board of Trust in 1967, and served as its Chairman from 1991 to 1995. He donated US$25 million to Vanderbilt. Additionally, he helped fundraise US$500 million for the university.E. Thomas Wood
The Empire Strikes Back: Protecting the Ingram family fortunes
, ''

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'', June 6, 1996 In 1993, he nominated the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

accepted for membership in the

Belle Meade Country Club Belle may refer to: People and fictional characters * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people * Southern belle, a stock character representing a young woman of the American South's uppe ...

. He also supported Inroads and the

Nashville Symphony The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra is resident at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. History In 1920, prior to the 1946 founding of the Nashville Symphony, a group of amateur a ...

. He was a member and former Chair of the PENCIL Foundation, a non-profit organization whose aim is to improve public education in Nashville. He served as the Chairman of the steering committee of Nashville's Agenda.

Personal life

In 1958, E. Bronson Ingram met Martha Robinson Rivers in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and they got married the same year. They moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where the Ingram Corporation was headquartered, but moved back to Nashville in 1961. They had three sons, David Bronson Ingram,

Orrin H. Ingram II Orrin H. Ingram II (born July 5, 1960) is an American heir, businessman, philanthropist and polo player. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ingram Industries and the chairman of Ingram Barge Company. Early life Orrin H. Ingram II was bo ...

, and John R. Ingram, and one daughter, Robin Ingram Patton.

Death and legacy

E.B. Ingram died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on June 15, 1995. At the time of his death, he was Tennessee's only

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

and 56th richest person in the United States. Golfer

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

was a pallbearer at his funeral. He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Ingram Studio Arts Center are named for him.

Bibliography

About him

* Martha Rivers Ingram, ''E. Bronson Ingram: Complete These Unfinished Tasks of Mine'' (2001)Worldcat
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Erskine Bronson 1931 births 1995 deaths Businesspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota Businesspeople from Nashville, Tennessee Military personnel from Minnesota Phillips Academy alumni Princeton University alumni American corporate directors Weyerhaeuser American billionaires Vanderbilt University people Philanthropists from Tennessee Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Ingram family 20th-century American businesspeople Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville)