Willis Johnson
Born
Willis J. Johnson

1947 (age 76–77)
Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseJoyce Johnson
Children2[1]
RelativesJay Adair (son-in-law)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
Battles/warsVietnam War
AwardsPurple Heart

Willis J. Johnson (born 1947) is an American billionaire businessman.[2] He is the founder and former chief executive of Copart, a vehicle salvage and auction company, founded in 1982.[3][4]

Biography

Born in 1947, Johnson grew up on a dairy farm in the vicinity of Siloam Springs, Arkansas.[5] He received his early education from a high school in California.[2] Johnson then joined the Army and served a year-long tour in Vietnam which earned him a Purple Heart. In 1972, he bought his own junkyard in Sacramento, California,[5] and moved his family into a trailer to fund his purchase.[2] He took Copart public in 1994.[5] He launched an online bidding platform for wrecked cars in 1998[2] (or 2002[5]).

Willis Johnson retired from his position of CEO of Copart in 2010 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee.[5]

In 2015, he co-founded now defunct on-demand household chore app, Takl.[5]

Political contributions

Johnson is politically conservative and supports the Republican Party.[2] Since 2001, he has contributed at least $1.5 million to different conservative causes.[2]

In 2019, he contributed $50,000 to the Trump Victory Committee, a political action committee.[2] Together with his spouse, Johnson contributed a total of $700,000 to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.[6]

In 2021, he donated $1 million to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to fund a National Guard deployment to the Texas/Mexico border.[7][8]

Assets

In 2010, he bought an 18,600 square foot mansion in Nashville for $28 million from American country singer Alan Jackson.[2][9]

Johnson also owns a 79-acre vineyard in Suisun Valley, California.[9]

Publications

  • Johnson, Willis (2015). Junk to Gold: From Salvage to the World's Largest Online Auto Auction. Westbow Press. ISBN 978-1490816579.

Personal life

Johnson is married to Joyce, whom he married after returning from the Vietnam War.[5] Johnson is a practising Christian.[5]

Johnson resides in Franklin, Tenn., and owns a large collection of classic cars, including a 1955 Chevrolet.[10]

His son-in-law, Jay Adair, is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Copart, and owns shares in the company worth more than $800 million.[2]

References


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