Jim Sinegal: Costco Co-Founder And CEO




Jim Sinegal may not have a prominent name as far as consumers are concerned, but he most definitely does in the world of business. As the co-founder of Costco, Jim Sinegal has offered millions of people discounts for a number of years now. He has offered consumers a winning formula and thus is most definitely an entrepreneur that every aspiring entrepreneur can learn from in the future. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time, and all of the reasons why can be found in his life story!

The Young Sinegal

James Sinegal was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 1, 1936. His birth date and the fact that he grew up in one of the biggest cities in the United States ensured that both World War II and the Korean War affected him. He freely admits to admiring the returning soldiers, although he was not old enough to enlist or be drafted into military service for either war. As such, he followed their example and developed character traits that would stand him in good stead later on in life.

Jim Sinegal learned qualities like respect and pride from watching the soldiers with his friends. Although he showed this early interest in the qualities needed of a business leader, he did not show much interest in school. This was evident in the fact that he was advised to complete an Associates program before he would be allowed to enrol at San Diego State University. That is exactly what he did. The entrepreneur found the focus he needed to achieve his degree and successfully completed it.

The Business Philosophy

It was at San Diego that Jim Sinegal learned to develop the business skills he needed to prosper when he eventually needed them, but he also found another important thing there. That is, he met Sol Price. Price was another aspiring entrepreneur. He had already founded Fed-Mart, where Sinegal worked, and also Price Club. The entrepreneur watched Price and learned exactly how to run a business. After a few years there, Sinegal raised the cash to branch out on his own and founded what was to become Costco Wholesale Corp. in 1983.

Costco has since become an American institution purely and simply because of the entrepreneur’s business philosophies. Instead of paying his employees minimum wage, the average is $17 as well as full benefits. As such, he has completely bucked the tradition of saving money by paying low wages that his competitors still hold on to. He is renowned for his fair business practices and has honed that management style since he started out with his first store. Of course, now Costco stores are to be found all over the United States but Sinegal certainly started as he meant to go on.

Jim Sinegal is often recognised for his pioneering business practices and his establishment of the wholesale sector of the retail industry. However, he is also renowned for his modest wage. The entrepreneur’s salary is merely $350,000, which is much lower than one would expect of a CEO, especially considering the profit margin of the business was in the billions of dollars in 2007.

Although the entrepreneur is in his seventies, he is still going strong as the CEO of Costco. With the company going strong all over the world and business booming, Jim Sinegal is determined to enjoy every last minute. His business practices are a shining example of the fact that it is not necessary to walk all over employees to be successful and this should inspire other budding entrepreneurs to take the same view. After all, if Sinegal can do it then so can anybody else.

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