Roy Vallee

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It's possible that Roy Vallee has spent more time creating value in the technology distribution space than anyone in history. The chairman and CEO of Avnet just celebrated his 30th year with the Phoenix-based company and is in his 36th year in distribution. He's grown Avnet into a $15 billion channel behemoth, leading it through the dot-com bubble to become the most valuable distributor on Wall Street. He's also served as chairman of the Global Technology Distribution Council and, as a longtime member of the GTDC's executive committee, he's championed the channel to manufacturers and set the vision for the IT supply chain around the world.

All this from a 20-something kid who only planned to stay at Avnet for five years.

Vallee began his career in 1971 stocking shelves for an electronics distributor. A few years later, he joined Avnet, but always planned to leave to start his own business. But over the last 30 years, he really has made Avnet his own business.

"We have evolved from a relatively immature wholesaler to a company that is literally vital to the technology supply chain, one that's known for an ability to manage the complexity within the global technology supply chain," Vallee said.

Vallee, as well as many friends and colleagues, point to a single moment in the late 1980s as the beginning of his career. It was a meeting of more than 200 Motorola and Avnet employees soon after then-Motorola-CEO Leon Machiz took over Avnet. Both companies were looking to improve a floundering relationship.

Vallee and his Motorola counterpart made presentations. After Vallee was finished, Machiz leaned over to ex-Motorola executive Chuck Thompson and said he wished he had more employees like Vallee.

"I said, 'He is your guy. He's your area manager in Orange County,' " Thompson recalled.. "Within a few months, Leon promoted Roy to head up Avnet's computer products unit. His recommendations [for Motorola] were implemented and we never looked back. Timing's everything," said Thompson, who retired in 1996.

"I've told that story 1,000 times over the years," laughed Thompson recently, when asked to tell it for the 1,001st time. "It's been fun watching his career. Two things you can't teach people are to be smart and honest. He's both of those things."

An hour before his induction into the CRN Industry Hall of Fame at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas May 22, Vallee smiled when he recalled the meeting. "After that, I got called into a meeting with Leon. I thought he might promote me within the components business. After an hour, he said, 'How'd you like to run the computer business?' It was a huge shock to me. It was like three levels of promotion," Vallee said. "My knee-jerk reaction was the business was struggling, have you thought of hiring someone from the computer industry? His response was, 'You can hire someone.' "

But Vallee's success at Avnet is measured by more than stories. The distributor has grown more than 150 percent since he became CEO in 1998. "Take a look at what he's done for the employees, for the customers, and for the shareholders. I give him an 'A' in all those areas," said Harvey Najim, president and CEO of Sirius Computer Solutions, a San Antonio-based solution provider. "The CEO is instrumental in articulating what the core values are of any company, then walking the talk."

Avnet's market capitalization now is nearly $6.5 billion, the highest among IT distributors, and up from $1.2 billion when Vallee took over. The market cap and stock price recently hit all-time highs. Avnet's performance over the past several years, considering its market, has been remarkable, said Jeff Weiss, director and founder of the Center of Corporate Innovation, a Los Angeles-based services and consultancy for CEOs and senior executives.

"Computer and component distribution is probably the toughest industry there is. The market hasn't valued it highly. If you look at what he's done at Avnet, all the acquisitions, the research says most don't work. Almost all of his do brilliantly. He's ridden out two industry recessions that have shaken up the management of most firms. I can't think of another company that has gone through all the transactions, the ups and downs of the market, and really not missed a beat. He's been an execution machine all the way through."

Vallee is respectfully referred to as "The Senator" among distribution's elite executives and is painted by friends and colleagues as a genuine, well-spoken CEO who fosters great loyalty through his ability to both devise and execute complex plans.

"Roy is the consummate pro as far as I'm concerned. He reflects a level of professionalism to a degree that any company and any board of directors would want in an executive," said Greg Spierkel, chairman and CEO of distributor Ingram Micro and fellow member of the GTDC.

Next: Avnet's Distribution Growth

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