Rank #2683
Jimmy Rane
Net worth $1.5B
Lumber · United States
- Born
- Sep 15, 1946
- Age
- 79
- Source
- Lumber
- Residence
- Abbeville, Alabama
- Citizenship
- United States
- Marital status
- Married
- Children
- 3
- Education
- Bachelor of Arts/Science, Auburn University; Doctor of Jurisprudence, Samford University
Net worth over time
Biography
- Jimmy Rane is founder and chairman of Great Southern Wood Preserving, which makes decks, fences and other treated lumber products.
- Rane is better known as "the Yella Fella," his cowboy alter-ego who appeared in his company's TV commercials.
- He and his brother transformed the family's $22,000 (1971 sales) backyard treating plant into a company with nearly $2 billion in annual sales.
- Rane served as CEO for more than half a century before retiring from the top job in 2025.
- Rane came up with the idea to advertise via short western films after reading about how Frank Perdue branded his chicken.
- He ran the company as a small side business for years while working as a lawyer, before eventually turning to it full-time.