Roy Vallee, chairman and CEO of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Phoenix Business Journal during its 3rd annual Most Admired CEOs Awards Dinner on May 19th. The award recognizes Vallee's vision, leadership of Avnet and service to the community.
In his acceptance, Vallee credited Avnet employees for his recognition and spoke of the rewards of Avnet's involvement in the community. "It's an honor to receive this award and be included with the other distinguished award recipients. In many ways, I consider this to be an award recognizing the collective work of Avnet's employees more so than my own. Our industry has experienced tremendous change, representing opportunities and challenges during my career. Through all the ups and downs, the employees of Avnet have demonstrated their adaptability and commitment to our vision and core values, and this has truly made the difference in our success over time. I have been privileged to be their leader. In addition, the opportunities to represent Avnet in the community have given me a deep appreciation of the power of collaboration with community leaders in making Arizona a place where talented people want to live and work. Arizona has been good for Avnet and we have been good for Arizona."
Mr. Vallee has earned numerous awards throughout his career, including being an inductee in the CRN Industry Hall of Fame, which recognizes individuals who, through their ideas, drive and perseverance, have transformed the computer industry with new ideas, revolutionary concepts and ingenious technology.
Avnet is Arizona's largest Fortune 500 company, coming in at number 132 on the list, with 2010 sales of $19.16 billion. This was up 18 percent from 2009, moving Avnet up 10 notches in the overall ranking to 132 from 142 last year.
Like many large companies in the Fortune 500, Avnet's stock performed very badly during the recession, but has bounced back 185% from their November 2008 lows in the $12-13 range. AVT has grown almost 30% in value over the past 12 months, rewarding patient investors who held on through the lows. Avnet also recently reported strong earnings for their fiscal third quarter with sales increased 40% year over year to $6.7 billion. You can learn more at ir.avnet.com.
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