William C. Rhodes III began his career at AutoZone in 1994. Before this, he was a manager at Ernst & Young LLP.[2] He is
President and
Chief Executive Officer of
AutoZone, Inc.,[3] a
Fortune 300 company.[4] He was named to those positions on March 13, 2005,[5] following more than 12 years with the company where he served in a variety of executive-level roles.[6] In 2007, he was named chairman of the company.[2]
According to annual
proxy filings with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission, his 2005 compensation from AutoZone totaled over US$8.5M.[7] While CEO of AutoZone in 2009, William C. Rhodes III earned a total compensation of $3,052,765, which included a base salary of $752,385, a cash bonus of $1,017,977, stocks granted of $21,270, options granted of $1,138,717, and other compensation totaling $122,416.[8] Business Insider listed him as one of the 25 most underpaid CEOs in 2010.[9] He was among the best-performing CEOs in 2014 and among the highest-paid CEOs in 2016.[10][11]
Acting as a representative for other CEOs during a meeting between these CEOs, Rhodes, and President
Donald Trump, Rhodes expressed concern over whether specific policy shifts would affect "our industry, our employees and American working families."[15] He also expressed concern that tariffs enacted by Trump did not "shock" customers.[16][17]
Rhodes is politically active and contributes to political races, including the reelection campaign for Governor
Charlie Baker of Massachusetts in 2018 and George Flinn in West Tennessee's Eighth District in 2016.[18][19]