Jim Crane

Chairman

Jim Crane directs the company’s growth and is actively involved in the development of marketing strategies, incentive compensation and financial objectives. 

Jim Crane travels globally to meet with new and existing clients and identify potential acquisitions. Jim is a graduate of University of Central Missouri and is Chairman of the Houston Astros professional baseball team, based at Minute Maid Park, winners of the World Series championship. 

Early Years
Jim Crane was born in 1954 in St Louis, Missouri.  His tireless work ethic, competitive nature and commitment to excellence came through in his youth as a standout pitcher for Central Missouri State University - now University of Central Missouri (UCM).  Crane received numerous awards and to this day holds pitching records.  He earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Safety from UCM in 1976 and went to work in the commercial insurance industry.  In 1982 Crane moved to Houston and entered the freight forwarding business.  Shortly after his move, he started his first of many companies.

Entrepreneur
In 1984, at the age of 30, Crane founded Eagle Global Logistics (EGL) with $10,000 borrowed from his sister.  Crane grew and transformed EGL from a domestic freight forwarder with two employees to a leading provider of global end-to-end supply chain solutions and logistics with 10,000 employees. In 1995, Crane took the company public (symbol EAGL).  By 2007 EGL posted revenue of $4 billion and had over 400 service centers in more than 100 countries.  The company won numerous awards for growth and reached #599 on the Fortune 1000 list. 

With the proceeds from the sale of EGL Jim formed his investment management company, Crane Capital Group (CCG) in 2006. Jim Crane is CEO of Crane Capital Group and is Chairman of the Board for his various companies. 

In 2008, Crane returned to the freight and logistics business and started Crane Worldwide Logistics (CWW) with its first office in Houston, Texas. CWW was started with former EGL executives and under Jim Crane’s guidance, the company was able to recapitalize and return capital in three years and achieve revenue of $1 billion in just ten years. 

In 2010, Crane purchased The Floridian and quickly turned into one of the nation’s premier golf clubs with a completely reconstructed golf course designed by world renowned Tom Fazio (https://floridian.cc). Crane ranked No. 1 in Golf Digest's rankings of the nation's top CEO golfers in 2006 with a 0.8 handicap.

In 2011, Major League Baseball unanimously approved Crane’s acquisition of the Houston Astros. Crane is the largest investor of the group, the MLB control person and Chairman of the Board. On November 1, 2017, for the first time in the team’s long history, the Houston Astros won the World Series. A dream come true for a standout pitcher from Missouri, Astros fans and the city of Houston (https://www.mlb.com/astros).

In 2017, Crane acquired DAVACO, North American leader in the management and execution of high-volume remodels and technology deployments for global brands (http://www.davacoinc.com). Additionally in 2017, Crane opened restaurants Osso & Kristalla and Potente across from the Astros baseball stadium.  Crane also started Aperture, a winery in California.

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