Jeffrey Brotman
Born
Jeffrey Hart Brotman

(1942-09-27)September 27, 1942
Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
DiedAugust 1, 2017(2017-08-01) (aged 74)
Medina, Washington, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Washington
Occupation(s)Attorney, entrepreneur, corporate executive
Known forCo-founder and chairman of Costco
Spouse
Susan Thrailkill
​
(m. 1976)​
Children2

Jeffrey Hart Brotman (September 27, 1942 – August 1, 2017) was an American attorney, entrepreneur, and executive. Brotman was the co-founder and chairman of Costco Wholesale Corporation.

Early life and education

Brotman was born in a Jewish family in Tacoma, Washington, the son of Pearl and Bernie Brotman.[1][2][3] His grandparents were Jewish emigrants from The Kingdom of Romania, now Romania to Saskatchewan; his parents immigrated to the US and settled in Tacoma.[1][3] His father was an owner of Seattle Knitting Mills. Along with his uncles, he owned a chain of 18 retail stores in Washington and Oregon named Bernie's.[2][4]

In 1965, the family moved to Seattle.[2] Brotman graduated from the University of Washington in 1964 with a degree in political science and in 1967 with a J.D.[2] He was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity at the University of Washington.[5] After school, he and his brother, Michael, founded a women's jeans store named Bottoms; and in the 1980s, they founded the Jeffrey Michael chain of men's clothing stores, which they operated into the 1990s.[2]

Career

In 1982, Brotman co-founded Costco Wholesale Corporation with Jim Sinegal,[6] a protégé of Sol Price, the founder of PriceSmart.[1] He served as chairman from the company's inception until his death, except during a stretch from 1993 to 1994 when he was vice chairman.[7][8] In 2017, Costco operated 736 warehouse stores.[3]

Brotman was also an early investor in Howard Schultz's Starbucks coffee.[3]

Philanthropy

Brotman served on the boards of several public companies and[9] according to Businessweek magazine, was "connected to 13 board members".[10][11] He sat on the board of directors of the Million-Dollar Roundtable at the United Way of King County.[12] He also served on the boards of Seafirst Bank, Starbucks, and was a trustee at the Seattle Art Museum.[13] He and his wife Susan donated to numerous causes, especially at the University of Washington, where they funded hundreds of student scholarships. They also endowed the Jeffrey & Susan Brotman Professorship at UW Law School, currently held by Steve Calandrillo.

Personal life

Brotman was married to Susan Thrailkill, a Montana native and former Nordstrom executive; they had two children, Justin Brotman, an activist and entrepreneur,[14][15] and Amanda Brotman-Schetritt, a Barnard College graduate who is an entrepreneur working in sustainability, philanthropy, and design. [16] [1][17][18]

On August 1, 2017, Brotman died in Medina, Washington at the age of 74.[19][7] He died in his sleep, possibly due to heart failure.[20] He was a member of Temple Beth El in Tacoma.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, Sam (August 2, 2017). "Jeff Brotman, Founder of Retail Juggernaut Costco, Dies at 74". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jeff Brotman, Jewish Costco founder, dead at 74". Cleveland Jewish News. August 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ Seattle Times: "Bernard Brotman Was Innovator In Retail Business" by Carole Beers August 25, 1996
  4. ↑ "Notable Alumni". Zeta Beta Tau. Archived from the original on December 5, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  5. ↑ Costco About Archived 2012-03-09 at the Wayback Machine accessed March 1, 2012
  6. 1 2 Turner, Nick; Soper, Spencer (August 1, 2017). "Jeffrey Brotman, Who Co-Founded Costco in 1980s, Dies at 74". Bloomberg News.
  7. ↑ McGregor, Jena (7 September 2011). "On Leadership: Costco chief executive Jim Sinegal". Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  8. ↑ Brotman Bio Forbes accessed March 1, 2012
  9. ↑ Business week on Brotman Businessweek, accessed March 1, 2012
  10. ↑ Jeffrey Brotman Executive Profile Businessweek, retrieved March 4, 2012
  11. ↑ Jeffrey H. Brotman Market Watch, retrieved March 4, 2012
  12. ↑ "Jeffrey H. Brotman". NNDB. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  13. ↑ "The Costco heir who became a voice for Baltimore". BBC News. 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  14. ↑ jseattle (2016-02-22). "Liquidation: Healeo shutters Capitol Hill cafe, lives on in wholesale juice biz". CHS Capitol Hill Seattle. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  15. ↑ "How I Broke Free From the Status Quo of The Fashion Business". Swaay. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  16. ↑ "BEnet: True to Yourself Sales". our.barnard.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  17. ↑ "Meet the Founder: Jewelry Designer Amanda Brotman". Women on Topp. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  18. ↑ Horowitz, Julia (August 1, 2017). "Costco's co-founder and chairman dies". CNN.
  19. ↑ Tu, Janet I. (August 1, 2017), "Death of Costco co-founder Jeff Brotman, 74, 'a complete shock'", The Seattle Times
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