Bill Franke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 15 April 1937 Bryan, Texas, US |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Chairman, Wizz Air and Frontier Airlines |
| Spouse | Carolyn Franke |
| Children | 5 |
William Augustus Franke (born April 15, 1937)[1] is an airline investor and a co-founder and Managing Partner of Indigo Partners LLC, a private equity fund focused in air transportation.[2][3] He has been the President at Franke and Company, Inc. since 1987.[4] Franke has been Chairman of Wizz Air since 2004, and is Chairman of Frontier Airlines. He also is the President and Chairman of Bristol Group SA.
Education and early career[edit]
Franke graduated from Stanford University with a BA in history in 1959 and an LL.B. in Law in 1961. In his early career he was the CEO of a Fortune 500 forest products company, Southwest Forest Industries (now Smurfit-Stone Container) and chairman of Circle K, which he restructured through bankruptcy. He was chairman and CEO of America West Airlines from 1993 to 2001, chairman of Singapore-based Tiger Airways from 2004 to 2009, and chairman of Spirit Airlines from July 2006 to August 2013.
Philanthropy[edit]
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University in 2008 where, following a $25 million donation, W.A. Franke College of Business was named after him.[5] In 2016 he made a donation of $24 million to the University of Montana.[6] He has also donated to his alma mater Stanford Law School to create The W. A. Franke Professorship in Law and Business.[7] In 2021, he donated $25 million to the University of Arizona to be put towards scholarships, housing stipends, and study abroad programs for honors students; the Honors College was thus renamed the W.A. Franke Honors College.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ MarketScreener. "William Franke - Biography". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
- ^ "William A. Franke Ph.D." Bloomberg. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ Reid, David (2019-06-19). "US private equity titan Bill Franke becomes latest Airbus XLR customer with 50 plane order". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "William A. Franke: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "W. A. FRANKE". Northern Arizona University. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "$24 Million Gift Is Largest Ever To University Of Montana". Montana Public Radio. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "Stanford Law School - Stanford Endowed Professorships and Directorships". Stanford University. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
- ^ "UArizona Names W.A. Franke Honors College in Recognition of $25M Gift". UA News. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
Further reading[edit]
- Sophie Segal (20 Aug 2019). "INTERVIEW: Indigo Partners founder Bill Franke". Flightglobal.