Dee & Jimmy Haslam
James A. “Jimmy” Haslam III serves as chief executive officer of Pilot Company. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, the company has grown to become one of the leading suppliers of fuel and the largest operator of travel centers in North America.
A native of Knoxville, Jimmy began his career at Pilot Corporation in 1976. Pilot opened its first travel center in 1981, and by 1996 – the same year Jimmy was named president and chief executive officer – the company operated 96 travel centers and 50 convenience stores, and its total gallon sales had reached 1.2 billion. Today, Pilot Company operates a network of more than 900 retail and fueling locations and is one of the top 10 privately held companies in the United States and employs more than 28,000 team members. In October 2017, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway made a significant minority investment in Pilot Flying J.
Dee Bagwell Haslam is CEO of Haslam Sports Group, owner of the Cleveland Browns, investor-operator of Columbus Crew SC, a partner in Pilot Corporation and partner in RIVR Media Companies.
Dee started her business career in the television production business working for her father, Ross Bagwell. In 1998, she and two partners created RIVR Media. With Dee as CEO of RIVR, the company produced hundreds of hours of programming, including the well-known “Trading Spaces.” In April 2018, Dee transitioned from CEO to partner/executive producer for RIVR Media.
In October 2012, Jimmy and Dee Haslam acquired primary ownership of the Cleveland Browns. To help further advance the NFL, Jimmy is a member of the league’s business ventures, media, and Hall of Fame committees and chairs the investment committee.
Dee’s active involvement in the NFL centers around her work on the social justice, conduct and legislative committees. Jimmy and Dee received their first award as members of the NFL in 2014 when they were recognized by the Fritz Pollard Alliance with the Paul “Tank” Younger Award for promoting diversity within NFL front offices. In 2016, they received the Steinberg-DeNicola Humanitarian award. In January of 2019, the Haslams expanded their sports interests and investments when they reached an agreement with Major League Soccer to operate Columbus Crew SC. Dee was also named to MLS’s Board of Governors.
In March 2019, Dee and Jimmy on behalf of the Haslam family pledged $1.5 million to COVID-19 relief funds throughout the state of Ohio. Through their Haslam 3 Foundation, the Haslams earmarked $1 million to the Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund and $500,000 to the Columbus Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund.
They have invested $11 million in Breakthrough Charter Schools, which helps provide equal educational opportunities for local youths throughout greater Cleveland. The couple also made a substantial gift to Cleveland’s public schools, helping to refurbish many of the city’s athletic fields as part of Browns Give Back. By the start of the 2019 high school football season, the Browns had installed nine turf fields as part of the program over a four-year period. The Haslams and Pilot Company have also initiated the turf field project in Knoxville, providing funding to transform 13 fields at area high schools.
This past December the Haslams helped open the doors to the Haslam-Sansom Ministry Complex in the Lonsdale community of Knoxville for the Emerald Youth Foundation.
Dee is actively involved in creating impactful solution-based programs to promote attendance, school choice and volunteerism in both Cleveland and Knoxville. She is a member of ExcelinEd’s Board of Directors, which is a foundation that has become a national leader in the education reform movement.
In Tennessee, Dee serves on the boards of the State Collaborative of Reforming Education (SCORE), Emerald Youth Foundation and Lakeshore Park and the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business Advisory Board and. Her community involvement in Cleveland and Columbus also includes serving on the board of directors of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, University Hospitals System, United Way of Greater Cleveland, Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Greater Columbus Partnership and The Cleveland Orchestra.
Jimmy’s civic involvement includes service on the board of directors of Anderson Media Corporation, American Federation for Children, Lakeshore Park and NATSO (National Association for Truck Stop Operators). He also has served on the board of the United Way of Greater Knoxville and campaign chair for Knox Area Rescue Ministries.
In 2006, Jimmy served as Tennessee statewide campaign chair for U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, and in 2010, he served as statewide finance chairman for Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, his brother.
Jimmy was inducted into the Junior Achievement of East Tennessee Business Hall of Fame in 2007, and in 2010, he was named a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Southeast region. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011 from the UT College of Business Administration, now called the Haslam College of Business in honor of his father. In 2013, the University of Tennessee recognized Jimmy with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is the co-founder of the Haslam Scholars Program for premier honor students at the University of Tennessee.
Jimmy and Dee have three adult children: J.B. Haslam, Whitney Haslam Johnson and Cynthia Arnholt, and six grandchildren.