Leadership
J.R. “Pitt” Hyde, III
Owner and President, Pittco Holdings, Inc.; Limited Partner, Memphis Grizzlies
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Mr. Hyde received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of North Carolina in 1965. Later that year, he joined Malone & Hyde, Inc., the wholesale food company founded by his grandfather in 1907, and initiated and developed Malone and Hyde's specialty retailing division.
He was the first president of Super D Drugs and in 1968 was elected president of Malone & Hyde. In 1972, he assumed the additional role of chairman, the position he held until 1988 when Malone & Hyde was sold to Fleming Companies. Under Mr. Hyde, the company became the nation's third largest wholesale food distributor with annual sales of over 3 billion dollars. In 1979, he founded Memphis-based AutoZone, the retail auto parts chain, as a division of Malone & Hyde. In 1987, AutoZone was spun off as a free standing company. He served as chairman and CEO until 1996 when he passed on his CEO title.
In March of 1997, Mr. Hyde retired from active management of AutoZone, but remains on the board of directors. Today, AutoZone, the country's largest auto parts chain, has 3,200 stores in 48 states. Presently, he–along with his wife, Barbara–are the founding members and executives of the Hyde Family Foundations. Furthermore, he is the owner and president of Pittco Holdings, Inc. One major focus of his broad portfolio of investments is Worthington Hyde Properties, LP, a real estate company based in Atlanta specializing in the development of multi-family housing and limited-service hotels.
Mr. Hyde is chairman of GTx Inc, a publicly held biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics primarily related to the treatment of serious men's health conditions. Mr. Hyde serves as a director for FedEx Corporation, and is actively engaged in the creation of a biotech research park for Memphis. He is married to the former Barbara Rosser and the couple has five children. He supports numerous Memphis-based educational, cultural and charitable organizations and is past chairman of Memphis Tomorrow.