As they say, Nashville is the capital of Country music and one of the best places in the world for music lovers! However, it has a lot more than music.
Nashville is home to brilliant companies, and one of the best companies to work at is Ingram Industries. It is a company that focuses on book distribution and print-on-demand book manufacturing.
Today, I will talk about the richest woman in Nashville, Tennessee, who acquired her wealth due to inheriting Ingram Industries.
Her name is Martha Ingram. Her net worth exceeds $3.7 billion, making her the 310th richest person in the country.
Who is Martha Ingram?
Martha Ingram is an American billionaire businesswoman, civic leader, and philanthropist.
She was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on August 20, 1935. In 1957, She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College in history. During her college years, she fell in love with performing arts, and that love shaped her life.
She worked at her father's radio and television station.
After her graduation, she worked with her father, who owned a radio and television station. Her father loved her work ethic and advised her to prepare herself to carry on the family business should anything happen to him.
She married her college friend.
However, she had a different idea. In 1958, she married E. Bronson Ingram II., a Princeton graduate she had dated during her college years. For the coming 21 years, she focused on her marriage and her four kids.
In 1979, Martha Ingram started to work with her husband at Ingram Industries. A Nashville-based company that specializes in marine transportation, book distribution, print-on-demand book manufacturing, digital storage, and distribution services.
She lost her husband in 1995.
When her husband died in 1995, she became the chairman and CEO of the company.
Her first decision was to spin off the computer distribution business into publicly-traded Ingram Micro in 1996. A few months later, it was acquired by the Chinese company HNA.
Once she retired, she wrote three books.
Martha left her job as chairman in 2008, and her sons Orrin and John took over as CEO and chairman, respectively.
Once she retired, she wrote three books: the first biography of her husband, her second book about the performing arts scene in Nashville, and the third biography of Kenneth Schermerhorn, a musician from Nashville.
Today, Ingram Industries' revenue exceeds $2B, and it has 5,000 employees.
She is involved in many charities in Tennessee, and in 2001, Mrs. Ingram was named "Tennessean of the Year" by The Tennessean newspaper for her generosity and leadership in the state.
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