| (1913
- 2003) |
| Inducted: |
1982 |
| Region: |
Southeast |
| Industry: |
Hospitality
|
|
Charles Wilson hit the streets of Memphis in his early teens to support his widowed mother. He bought an old popcorn machine and brought home $30 a week, reinvesting the profits in pinball machines, jukeboxes and real estate. When he left to serve in World War II, Wilson cashed out part of his holdings for $250,000. During the summer of 1951, he took his family on a road trip to see the nation’s capital. Along the way, he developed a great distaste for the “fleabag” hotels at which they had to stay. He built the prototype Holiday Inn that same year and went national with the franchise three years later. When he retired in 1979, Holiday Inn was the largest lodging chain in the world, grossing $2 billion a year. |
