Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> June 17, 2016

Interview with the CEO: Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Adair, Jay
Jay Adair presently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Copart, Inc. He began his career at Copart in 1989 at the age of 19, teaming up with company Founder and Chairman of the board, Willis Johnson. During his earliest time at Copart, Mr. Adair held the positions of Manager of Operations, Vice President of Sales and Operations, and Executive Vice President. He was appointed to Copart’s board of directors in 1992 and became President in 1996. In February 2010, he was appointed as Copart’s Chief Executive Officer. He has also served on the board of Keystone Automotive. During Mr. Adair’s tenure, Copart has grown from a small, successful California-based company to a large publicly held, multinational corporation with more than 200 facilities globally. The company has earned numerous business accolades and has been featured on Forbes magazine’s 200 Best Small Companies list for more than 10 years. In 2015, Copart was named the Top Performer on Deloitte’s The Exceptional 100 list. Mr. Adair was instrumental in designing and implementing Copart’s patented online auction technology, VB2 — Virtual Bidding Second Generation —. Launched in 2003, VB2 transformed the industry from the traditional brick-and-mortar auctions to online virtual auctions, opening the market to buyers across the globe who no longer have to attend a physical sale to purchase a vehicle. Today, more than 750,000 members in more than 150 countries purchase vehicles using Copart’s third-generation VB3 auction platform. Apart from his leadership role at Copart, Mr. Adair spends time in California at his Suisun Valley vineyard and, with his family, is active in their Dallas church, community and charitable causes. Profile
TWST: Please start by telling us about how Copart got started, its history, and how it's changed over the years.

Mr. Adair: If you go way back to the 1940s, the