Executive Chairman, Carmax
Search every verified Thomas Folliard interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Thomas Folliard, executive chairman of CarMax, spoke at a Florida Tech lecture series in February 2018. He stated that the company had generated over $18 billion in revenue in the prior year and expected to exceed $20 billion in the coming year)Skip. He also said CarMax had $12.5 billion in managed receivables and was the fifth-largest originator of used-car loans in the United States. During the lecture, Folliard described the company's response to an unspecified economic downturn, saying CarMax did not conduct layoffs or reduce benefits, instead repurposing some employees and rethinking the company's operations. He also discussed CarMax's approach to vehicle recalls, stating that because the company is not a manufacturer, it cannot fix recalls, but aims to be transparent with customers by showing them how to register with manufacturers and check for open recalls.
“The year that just ended we did a little over 18 billion in revenue; this year we'll eclipse 20 billion in revenue. We have twelve and a half billion in managed receivables and are about the fifth-largest originator of used-car loans in the country.”
“We didn't do any layoffs in the company; we didn't cut back on any of our benefits — we tried to keep all of our best people (we repurposed some people), but we really had to rethink the entire company when we came out of that.”
Tom Folliard graduated from Florida Tech and began working at a local used car wholesaler. After a visit from the founders of what would later be CarMax, he became employee #1. Since then the company has grown to change and disrupt the field, becoming the largest used-car retailer and #174 in the Fortune 500. In this talk, Tom will explain how CarMax grew so quickly and it’s journey to the top of its industry.
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from Thomas Folliard.