Edward W. Stack (born 1954/1955) is an American

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 ...

businessman. In 1984, Stack took over as

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) of

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized in all caps as DICK'S Sporting Goods) is an American chain of sporting goods stores founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States and is listed ...

, a

sports equipment Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since th ...

retailing company founded in 1948 by his father, Richard "Dick" Stack. In February 2021, he was succeeded as CEO by Lauren Hobart.

Early life and education

Edward W. Stack is the son of Richard "Dick" Stack, who founded

retailer

in 1948. He grew up in the East Side neighborhood of

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

, attended public schools, and played baseball and football at Binghamton North High School. Stack received a

Bachelor of Arts and Science A Bachelor of Arts and Science(s) (BASc), sometimes as Bachelor of Science and Arts (BScA or BSA), is an undergraduate bachelor's degree conferred by a small number of universities from countries including the United States, Canada, the United Ki ...

degree in accounting from St. John Fisher College in 1977. He planned to become a lawyer, but opted to help run the family business after his father's health declined.

Career

Stack and his siblings purchased Dick's from their father in the early 1980s, when the company had two locations in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. He became

and

following his father's retirement in 1984. Stack established a

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

, opened additional stores, and relocated the company's headquarters to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in 1994. He led the company during its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in 2002. Stack owned approximately 25 percent of the company's

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other C ...

, and controlled nearly two-thirds of its voting shares, as of 2010. After selling 5.8 percent of his holdings in 2013, he owned around 20 percent of the company, primarily via

Class B share In finance, a Class B share or Class C share is a designation for a share class of a common stock, common or preferred stock that typically has strengthened voting rights or other Entitlement (fair division), benefits compared to a Class A share t ...

s. Following the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, part of the Miami metropolitan area, Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 18 ot ...

in February 2018, Stack announced that Dick's and its subsidiaries would stop selling military pattern semi-automatic rifles and

high-capacity magazine A high-capacity magazine (or large-capacity magazine) is a magazine capable of holding a higher than normal number of ammunition rounds for a particular firearm (i.e. more than in a standard magazine for that firearm). A magazine may also be def ...

s, and would not sell

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s to people under the age of 21. In addition, Stack reported to destroy $5 million worth of assault-style-type rifles then in Dick's inventory. He has advocated for stronger

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

and worked to enact change by hiring lobbyists and meeting with politicians. Stack is estimated to have a net worth of as of February 2018. In February 2021, he was succeeded as CEO by Lauren Hobart.

Board service

Stack has served on the boards of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce,

KeyCorp KeyBank is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 27th largest bank in the United States. Organized under the publicly traded KeyCorp, KeyBank was formed from the 1994 merger of the Cleveland-based Society Corpora ...

, the

National Retail Federation The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the world's largest retail trade association. Its members include department stores, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, restaurants, grocery stores, multi-level marketing companies and vendors. ...

, and

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

, as well as the

advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

's Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative.

Recognition

In 1997, Stack ranked fourth in the "consumer-retailing/hardlines" category of magazine ''

Institutional Investor An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked ...

'' survey of the best chief American executives, and was named "Sports Executive Visionary of the Year" by magazine ''SportStyle''. He was named "Entrepreneur of the Year in Southwestern Pennsylvania" by

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

in 1999. In 2005, Stack received a History Makers Award in the "business and industry" category from the

Heinz History Center The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Named after U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) from Pennsylvania, it i ...

. He was inducted into the

National Sporting Goods Association The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) is an American industry trade group representing retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers of sports equipment. History On May 26, 1929, the NSGA was formed when the ''Sporting Goods Dealer's Asso ...

Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame The Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame is an award for members of the American ''National Sporting Goods Association'', an industry trade group for the sports equipment industry. Inductees As of the 2023 awards, 181 people are listed in the H ...

in 2006. Stack received a Humanity and Service Award from the Bus Stops Here Foundation in 2014, and a Major John H. Russell Leadership Award from

Marine Corps University Marine Corps University is a military education university system of the United States Marine Corps. It is part of the Naval University System and accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools t ...

's foundation in 2015. He was given an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

of doctor of humane letters from his alma mater, after delivering a

commencement speech In the United States, a commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the ...

in 2016.

Personal life

Stack is married to Donna A. Stack. In February 2015, the couple acquired an 8,946-square-foot home in

North Palm Beach, Florida North Palm Beach is an incorporated village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The village won an award from the National Association of Home Builders as best planned commun ...

, for . He is married, and lives in

Sewickley, Pennsylvania Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 3,907 at the 2020 census. The Sewick ...

with Donna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stack, Edward W. 1950s births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American billionaires American retail chief executives People from Binghamton, New York People from Sewickley, Pennsylvania St. John Fisher University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)