Robert Crants (born 1944) is an American businessman. He is a co-founder of the

Corrections Corporation of America CoreCivic, Inc. formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas W. ...

. He was its chairman and chief executive officer from 1994 to 1999.

Early life

Doctor Robert Crants was born on November 17, 1944, in

Salamanca, New York Salamanca ( Seneca: ''Onë'dagö:h'') is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, inside the Allegany Indian Reservation, one of two governed by the Seneca Nation of New York. The population was 5,929 at the 2020 census. It was n ...

. His mother gave him the first name of "Doctor", but he has not generally used it as an adult.Karin Miller
Doctor Crants is no doctor -- he's America's private prison warden
''South Coast Today'', January 4, 1998 He is one quarter Seneca from his maternal side, and he grew up on a Seneca reservation in New York. He was educated at Lansing Central High School. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

, where he was Thomas W. Beasley's roommate. He served in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. He received a master's degree in business administration and a law degree from the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1974.

Career

Crants was chief financial officer of a real estate company in

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 ...

. Later, he founded Broadcast Management Services, and established several television stations. In 1983, he co-founded

with his former roommate, Thomas W. Beasley, by then a leader in the Republican Party in Tennessee, and T. Don Hutto, creating a private prison management company. CCA received initial investments from Jack C. Massey, the founder of

Hospital Corporation of America HCA Healthcare, Inc. (historically known as Hospital Corporation of America) is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owned and operated 186 ...

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 ...

, the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

.Donna Selman, Paul Leighton
''Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge''
New York City: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010, pp. 81-82 He was its treasurer. By 1987, Crants became president. He was chairman and chief executive officer from 1994 to 1999.''Dow Jones News Service,'
"CEO to step down"
''The Chicago Tribune'', December 28, 1999 As of 2015, it is the largest prison management company in the nation. By 2016, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) along with

Geo Group The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in the United States, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The company ...

were running "more than 170 prisons and detention centres". CCA's revenues in 2015 were $1.79bn. Shortly after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in 2001, Crants co-founded the Homeland Security Corporation with one of his sons, D. Robert Crants, III.Pierce Greenberg
"Crants duo, associates getting $2M+ to cover RICO case costs"
''Nashville Post'', March 29, 2013 Crants is its chief executive officer, while Joseph S. Johnson is president."Company Overview of Homeland Security Company, LLC"
''Bloomberg Business''

Personal life

Crants is married to Shirley Crants. They have two sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crants, Robert 1944 births American chief executives American company founders Businesspeople from Nashville, Tennessee CoreCivic people Harvard Business School alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people Native American people from New York (state) People from Cattaraugus County, New York Seneca Nation of New York people United States Military Academy alumni