Eddie Smith Jr. could have sold Grady-White Boats for a fortune. After 58 years of building the North Carolina boat company, Smith received multiple acquisition offers valued “way north” of $400 million. But rather than cashing out, the 83-year-old entrepreneur decided to transfer the company into a structure designed to preserve its culture and send future profits toward charitable causes.
“I just think that those of us that are fortunate enough to be in a position to help others…It’s really a gift to me to be able to do what I do,” Smith told Fortune.
Eddie Smith Jr. turned a struggling North Carolina boat company around
Smith’s journey with Grady-White Boats began in 1968, when the company was in a near-bankrupt state. The entrepreneur had grown up in central North Carolina in a family that struggled financially. He has recalled eating Spam three times a day while his father worked various jobs before eventually starting a mail-order hosiery business.
Smith later became the first member of his family to attend college, graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1965.
Three years later, at age 26, he took a chance on Grady-White Boats.
“I had an unhealthy desire to prove to myself that I could do something on my own,” Smith said. “I took a flyer at 26. Borrowed just a little bit of money—there was nothing much to buy—and the first five or six years were really tough.”
Those early years required an enormous personal commitment.
Smith routinely worked between 80 and 100 hours a week while trying to keep the company alive. He had belonged to three golf clubs when he bought Grady-White, but reportedly did not play golf again for decades as the business consumed his time.
The $400 million Grady-White Boats offer he decided to reject
After nearly six decades at the helm, Smith turned down multiple offers that were “way north” of $400 million rather than hand the company over to new owners.
He had watched friends sell businesses they had spent decades building, only to become unhappy with what happened afterward.
“All of them were really disappointed in what happened to their companies after the sale. They lost their way,” Smith told Fortune. “They lost their culture that they had built, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of that happening.”
Why Eddie Smith Jr. chose charity over a $400 million payday
Earlier this month, ownership of Grady-White was transferred into a perpetual purpose trust and nonprofit structure. The arrangement is intended to keep the company independent while ensuring that its future profits can support philanthropic causes.
Under the structure, the company's voting shares were transferred to a perpetual purpose trust. That means Grady-White cannot simply be sold and is expected to continue operating according to the values Smith established.
The remaining non-voting shares were placed under a 501(c)(4) organization that plans to direct tens of millions of dollars each year toward causes including education, healthcare, conservation and the local community.
Smith will remain chief executive emeritus, but independent boards will oversee the two entities.
The Patagonia connection: Yvon Chouinard inspired Smith
Smith's decision was partly inspired by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. In 2022, Chouinard transferred ownership of Patagonia to a trust and nonprofit structure. The goal was to preserve the company's mission while directing profits toward fighting climate change and protecting undeveloped land.
Smith saw a similar possibility for Grady-White Boats.
Rather than simply sell the company and accept a massive personal payday, he created a structure intended to keep the business operating while using its financial success to benefit others.
Smith also hopes other entrepreneurs will consider similar approaches—or at least think more seriously about philanthropy and what happens to the companies they spend their lives creating.
“I think there’s room for a lot more [philanthropy] in our country,” he said.
Grady-White's unusual employee-first culture
The decision also reflects the workplace culture Smith built at Grady-White.
The company reportedly spends between $350,000 and $400,000 each year paying employees to read self-improvement books. Employees meet on Friday mornings for companywide sessions covering subjects including physical health, family relationships and financial well-being.
Grady-White also provides profit sharing and employs a corporate chaplain. Smith's plans for Grady-White were also influenced by major personal losses.
His wife, Jo, died in 2021. The following year, his son Chris died from ALS. Chris had been the family successor Smith had once envisioned.
What happens to Grady-White Boats now?
Smith is stepping back from the day-to-day future of the company while remaining chief executive emeritus.
The purpose trust is designed to protect Grady-White from a future sale, while the nonprofit structure will channel profits toward philanthropy.
The causes expected to benefit include education, healthcare, conservation and the local community, with tens of millions of dollars potentially directed toward those areas annually.
For an entrepreneur who spent decades building a North Carolina company from the brink of bankruptcy, Smith's final business decision is therefore not about maximizing the amount he can take away. It is about determining what the company can continue to give away.
