Nationality American Known for CEO Daseke, Inc. Children 3 Organization founded Daseke Inc. | Years active 1963-current Spouse(s) Barbara Elliot Daseke | |
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Occupation Entrepreneur, Business executive | ||
Don Daseke is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the current CEO, chairman, president and founder of the transportation company, Daseke Inc. Since the foundation of Daseke, Inc. he has helped to grow the company from $30 million in revenue in 2009 to a projected $650 million in 2016.
Contents
Previously, Daseke held various positions at IBM and founded the companies Walden Residential Properties, BigFatWow! Inc., Sage Telecom and East Teak International Inc.
Don daseke shares his entrepreneurial path and insights
Early life and education
Daseke graduated from DePauw University in 1961 with a degree in economics. He then attended the University of Chicago School of Business and received his MBA and CPA in 1963.
Career
Daseke began his career with Arthur Andersen as an auditor. He then moved to IBM and held roles in sales and finance. In 1972, he founded the company Walden Residential Properties. During his tenure as CEO with the company he helped to grow it from 6,000 units to 42,000 units and oversaw it's IPO in 1994. The company was sold for $1.7 billion in 2000.
Daseke served as a founding chairman for Sage Telecom beginning in 1998. Daseke founded the company BigFatWow, a shopping mall internet kiosk operator in 1999. The company ceased operations in 2002. In 2006, Daseke purchased the East Teak Trading Group and founded East Teak International, Inc., a teak and hardwood importer.
In 2008, Daseke purchased the trucking company Smokey Point Distributing, the first company of Daseke Inc. By 2013, the company had a revenue of $205 million, up from $30 million in 2009. In January 2014, under Daseke, the company had merged six trucking company subsidiaries that focused on the transportation of flatbed and specialized cargo. In 2014, Daseke was named an Entrepreneur of the Year for the Southwestern Region by Ernst & Young. By 2015, three more companies were acquired by the company and Daseke had grown the company to 3,000 employees with a projected revenue of $750 million and nine subsidiaries.
Daseke has also served as a chairman at Sage Telecom Inc., Mirage Systems Inc., Priority Flowers Inc., ApartmentMatching.com, Netier Technologies Inc. and Liquid Motors Inc.