Jeffrey Lorberbaum Biography

Jeffrey Lorberbaum (born 1956) is an American billionaire and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Calhoun, Georgia-based carpet manufacturer Mohawk Industries.

Early Life and education

Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum is the son of Shirley and Alan Lorberbaum, Jewish migrants to the South from New York City. In 1957, his parents founded Aladdin Mills, Inc. which made bathmats and rugs from extruded plastics; and in the 1980s, expanded into traditional carpeting manufacturing eventually growing the business into one of the largest carpet manufacturers in the country. He has one sister Suzanne Helen of Denver and one brother, Mark Lorberbaum of Miami Beach. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Denver.

Career

Jeffrey joined the family business in 1976 and served as its Vice President of Operations from 1986 to 1994. In 1994, Aladdin merged with Mohawk Industries - creating the largest flooring manufacturer in the world - and his father became Mohawk's majority shareholder and joined its Board of Directors. In 1994, Lorberbaum became president of Mohawk and in 2001, he became CEO. Since then he has grown the company to $5.8 billion in revenues partly through acquisitions. In 2002, he orchestrated the $1.8 billion purchase of Dal-Tile of Dallas making Mohawk the world's largest tile-maker. In 2005, Mohawk purchased Unilin, a Belgium-based maker of engineered wood (used in the flooring market) and MDF board (a composite used in do-it-yourself furniture) for $2.6 billion.

Personal life

Lorberbaum is married to Sarah Lorberbaum. They live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They have two children, a daughter, Lauren, who works in New York City, and a son, Brian, a college student at the University of Georgia.

As of January 2013, Lorberbaum holds 9.6 million shares of Mohawk amounting to 14 percent of the company which is valued at $900 million.