- Jim Clayton (Clayton Homes)
James L. ("Jim") Clayton, Sr. (born 1934) is an American
entrepreneur who foundedClayton Homes in 1966 and built it into theUnited States ' largest producer and seller ofmanufactured housing , apublicly traded company that was sold toBerkshire Hathaway in 2003 for $1.7 billion. [http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/78/claytonhomes.html The Ballad of Clayton Homes] , By Jennifer Reingold (Illustrations by Christian Clayton), "Fast Company", Issue 78, January 2004, Page 76] He lives inKnoxville, Tennessee .Clayton was born in 1934 in
Finger, Tennessee , the son of asharecropper . As a child, he aspired to become acountry music singer. Afterhigh school he went to Memphis to attendcollege and perform inhonky tonk s. [http://www.horatioalger.com/members/member_info.cfm?memberid=cla91 James L. Clayton, Sr.] , The Horatio Alger Association website (accessed October 23, 2007)] After becoming ill at the end of the first year, he transferred to theUniversity of Tennessee inKnoxville , where he was a member of theSigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and received anengineering degree in 1957 and alaw degree in 1964. [http://alexander.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Speeches.Detail&Speech_id=38&Month=4&Year=2003 Remarks Of Sen. Alexander - James L. Clayton] , SenatorLamar Alexander ,U.S. Senate , April 11, 2003] While a student, he started an informal business of fixing and resellingused car s, establishing a used-car business in 1956. That business grew into a group of Knoxville-areaautomobile dealership s operated by Jim Clayton and his brother Joe; Jim Clayton sold his interest in the business to Joe in 1981.Clayton branched into the
mobile home business in 1966.Clayton published an
autobiography , "First a Dream" (FSB Press, ISBN 978-0972638906), in 2002, cowritten with Bill Retherford. Reportedly, the book motivatedWarren Buffett to buy Clayton's company, [ [http://jimclayton.com/ Jim Clayton ] ] http://www.sigepfoundation.org/resource/resmgr/docs/doud-clayton_endowment_journ.pdf] but a 2004 article in "Fast Company" magazine suggested that the story was not as simple as was widely reported.Clayton has made many charitable contributions in the Knoxville area, including a $3.25 million donation for construction of the
Knoxville Museum of Art ; a $1 million donation to theUniversity of Tennessee College of Law for its Center for Entrepreneurial Law; and a $1 million donation toEast Tennessee Baptist Hospital to establish the Clayton Birthing Center. He and his wife, Kay Clayton, also made two $1 million donations toFreed-Hardeman University inHenderson, Tennessee , which is near his home town. [ [http://www.fhu.edu/news_events/05/events_pressReleases.asp Clayton Homes Inc. Founder Makes Major Gift to Freed-Hardeman University] , Freed-Hardeman University press release, 10/26/05]References
External links
* http://jimclayton.com/
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