Bob Parsons is the CEO and founder of YAM Worldwide, home to his entrepreneurial ventures in the fields of motorcycles, golf, real estate, finance, marketing, innovation, and philanthropy. However, he is perhaps best known as the founder of GoDaddy. Among his accomplishments, Parsons failed the fifth grade. He would not have graduated high school had he not joined the US Marine Corps with one of his classmates in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War. A US Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran, Parsons is a recipient of the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, and Vietnam Cross of Gallantry. After serving in the Marine Corps, he attended the University of Baltimore on the G.I. Bill and graduated magna cum laude. His alma mater presented him with an honorary doctorate in 2008 and named him Distinguished Entrepreneur in 2010. Three of Parsons entrepreneurial ventures—Parsons Technology (#11, 1992), GoDaddy (#8, 2004) and now PXG (#123, 2019)—have been recognized and ranked by Inc magazine as being among America’s fastest-growing privately-held companies. Parsons and his wife, Renee, started The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation in 2012 to reach marginalized populations and causes often underfunded by mainstream philanthropy. Parsons credits what he learned in the US Marine Corps for everything he’s ever accomplished in life and business.
