Don Daseke (born 1940/1941) is an American businessman, and the CEO, chairman and founder of the transportation company,Daseke[1][2] Since the foundation of Daseke, Inc. he has helped to grow the company from $30 million in revenue in 2009 to an over $1.6 billion in 2018.[3] In February 2017 Daseke became publicly listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange with the ticker symbol DSKE.[4][5]
Previously, Daseke held various positions atIBM and founded the companies Walden Residential Properties, BigFatWow! Inc., Sage Telecom and East Teak International Inc.[6][7][8]
Daseke began his career with Arthur Andersen as an auditor.[11] He then moved to IBM and held roles in sales and finance.[6] 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 itsIPO in 1994.[12][6] The company was sold for $1.7 billion in 2000.[13]
Daseke served as a founding chairman forSage Telecom beginning in 1998.[14] Daseke founded the company BigFatWow, a shopping mall internet kiosk operator in 1999. The company ceased operations in 2002.[15][16] In 2006, Daseke purchased the East Teak Trading Group and founded East Teak International, Inc., ateak and hardwood importer.[8]
In 2008, Daseke purchased the trucking company Smokey Point Distributing, the first company of Daseke Inc.[17][18] By 2013, the company had a revenue of $205 million, up from $30 million in 2009.[17] In January 2014, under Daseke, the company had merged six trucking company subsidiaries that focused on the transportation of flatbed and specialized cargo.[19] In 2014, Daseke was named an Entrepreneur of the Year for the Southwestern Region byErnst & Young.[17] 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.[6][20] In 2017, Daseke acquired seven companies, making them the leading consolidator and largest flatbed and specialized company in North America.[21] Daseke's efforts growing the company didn't go unnoticed, Don Daseke was named The Accidental Trucker[5] and Daseke was the public company honoree for the 2017 Dallas Business Journal Outstanding Director Awards.[22] In December 2018, Don Daseke was selected for the 2018Horatio Alger Award for his lifetime achievements and commitment to his local community.[23][24][25]
Daseke has also served as achairman at Sage Telecom Inc., Mirage Systems Inc., Priority Flowers Inc., ApartmentMatching.com, Netier Technologies Inc. and Liquid Motors Inc.[7][1]
^abcBounds, Jeff; Nielsen, Karen; Perez, Christine; Vosburgh, Glenda (August 2014)."Entrepreneurs of the Year 2014". D Magazine. RetrievedMarch 18, 2016.
