Billed as the country’s largest dealer of commercial tires, it sells about 2 million truck tires annually and retreads another 1.5 million tires for customers that include UPS, Penske, and Ryder. Their father Ernest started the tire business in 1973 to supply tires to his trucking business. When the Duff brothers took over running Southern Tire in 1983, it was struggling to pay suppliers, so Tom worked without a paycheck for a while. In 2003, the brothers bought back Southern Tire for $15 million, following the expiration of a noncompete agreement with Bandag. The Duff brothers have since proven that Southern Tire’s success was no fluke and that they have a knack for turning around failing companies.

Source: Forbes May 21, 2018 13:45 UTC