L. Fahs on private equity
From A Podcast About Leadership - CEO Succession with National Vision CEO Alex Wilkes & Reade Fahs · · AIIR Consulting
“In 2005, we managed to attract a private equity firm who was willing to buy us and buy the America's Best chain, which at the time was 114 stores.”
On , L. Fahs, Chief Executive Officer & Director at NATIONAL VISION HOLDINGS INC, spoke about private equity during A Podcast About Leadership - CEO Succession with National Vision CEO Alex Wilkes & Reade Fahs on AIIR Consulting.
About L. Fahs
Reade Fahs, who served as CEO of National Vision for more than two decades, transitioned into the role of executive chairman in August 2025, passing the CEO role to Alex Wilkes. In a December 2025 podcast, Fahs and Wilkes discussed the planned succession, with Wilkes describing Fahs as a "humble, truly servant leader" and noting that Fahs gave him the autonomy to run the company while offering counsel. Fahs has described his leadership philosophy as focusing on people and culture rather than financial metrics, stating that "numbers are sort of an end result" and that if you get the input components right, "the numbers work out." Throughout his tenure, Fahs emphasized National Vision's mission of making eye care and eyewear more affordable and accessible, describing the company as "a fast growing business engine fueling a fast growing philanthropic engine." He has highlighted that National Vision's optometrists often serve patients who have no other interaction with the U.S. medical system, and that the company has been "the fastest growing optical business in America for almost 15 years." Fahs has also been active in addressing the global vision crisis, noting that 670 million people worldwide need glasses but cannot afford them, and has supported various philanthropic approaches including the social enterprise VisionSpring, which trains vision entrepreneurs in developing countries.