Roger D. Linquist (June 26, 1938 – September 16, 2015)Obituary
/ref> was an American businessman who was the chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of

Metro PCS Metro by T-Mobile, formerly known as MetroPCS, and simply known as Metro, is an American prepaid wireless service provider and brand owned by T-Mobile US. It previously operated the fifth largest mobile telecommunications network in the United ...

. He also founded LJ Entertainment Inc in 1995.

Early life

Raised by a single mother in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Linquist studied mechanical engineering at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, graduating in 1961. He was a member of two national engineering honor societies,

Pi Tau Sigma Pi Tau Sigma () is an international honor society in the field of mechanical engineering. The society was established in 1915 at the University of Illinois. It has 182 chapters. History Pi Tau Sigma was established on March 16, 1915, at the Un ...

and

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

. He continued his graduate studies at the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory in the School of Mechanical Engineering, graduating in 1963 with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. He finished his formal education after receiving an MBA at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Career

Linquist founded

as General Wireless, Inc. in 1994. The company was later acquired by

T-Mobile US T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American wireless network operator headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. Its majority shareholder and namesake is the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom. T-Mobile is the second largest wireless carrie ...

. Before his death, Linquist served as CEO and Managing Partner of NXGen Partners, a private equity company based in Dallas.

Awards

* 2011: Entrepreneur of the Year award by Inc. in the category media.

Personal life

Linquist died of cancer in 2015. He was married to Sue (Sandel) Linquist. Together they had four children, two sons and two daughters.

References

People from Richardson, Texas American telecommunications industry businesspeople American chief operating officers People from Elmwood Park, Illinois Deaths from cancer in Texas Purdue University College of Engineering alumni Kellogg School of Management alumni American mechanical engineers Engineers from Illinois 1938 births 2015 deaths {{US-business-bio-1930s-stub