It's been said that life's a circle, something Richard Sharp knows a lot about. As a boy, the budding electronics aficionado spent hours perusing the catalog of Lafayette Radio. Lafayette Radio was purchased by Wards TV. Wards TV turned into Circuit City. And the boy who flipped though the Lafayette catalog, as an adult, became president and CEO of Circuit City, leading the company through its period of greatest growth and helping to make it one of the nation's premier big box superstore retailers.
Sharp was born in Washington, D.C., in April 1947. He turned his boyhood passion for electronics into a vocation, studying electrical engineering at the University of Virginia (1965-1966) and computer science at The College of William and Mary. He later attended Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.
After starting his career as a computer programmer, Sharp founded Applied Systems Corp. (ACS) in 1975. Sharp was the sole shareholder and served as CEO, leading the company as it grew to more than 300 employees. ASC developed custom hardware and software business systems using mini and microcomputer technology, including a low cost online POS system especially well suited for big ticket retailers. In 1978 ASC sold one of its systems to Wards TV, which had been founded in Richmond, VA, in 1949. During the process of customizing and implementing the system, Sharp developed a strong relationship with Wards TV CEO Alan Wurtzel.
Impressed by the management team and prospects for rapid growth in consumer electronics, Sharp joined Wards in 1982 as an executive vice president. In 1984, the company renamed itself Circuit City and Sharp was elected president. He was named CEO in 1986 and chairman and CEO in 1990. The following year, Circuit City entered the New York City market, using the remnants of the Lafayette Radio stores that it had bought in the early 1970s as a base.
During his tenure, the number of Circuit City stores mushroomed from dozens to hundreds; revenues grew from $175 million to $12.6 billion and market capitalization increased from $18 million to more than $12 billion. Circuit City was one of the Good to Great companies described in Jim Collins' 2001 best seller. Circuit City was also the number one performing stock on the New York Stock Exchange in the 1980s. One dollar invested January 1, 1980, returned more than $80 dollars just 10 years later.
From 1990 to 2000, Sharp simultaneously served as chairman and CEO of Circuit City spin-off CarMax and led the team that created the consumer-friendly used car concept. CarMax is now America's largest used car retailer with annual revenues exceeding $8 billion in 2007. He retired from Circuit City's day-to-day management in 2000 and retired as CarMax’s chairman of the board in 2007.
In 1992, Sharp was a founding investor and chairman of Flextronics, a leading electronics design and manufacturing company with annual revenues exceeding $30 billion. In 2005, he was a founding investor and chairman of Crocs Inc., the manufacturer of the now ubiquitous plastic shoes.
In addition to his corporate success, Sharp has served on numerous other for-profit and non-profit boards, including time as chairman of the National Retail Federation, the Virginia Business Council and Children First America. He founded and was principal contributor to Children First Virginia, an organization that provides scholarships for low-income K-8 students. He also serves on the boards of Johns Hopkins and UVA Medicine, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond and the VCU School of Engineering Foundation.