The Peculiar Truth about RadioShack’s Troubled CEO

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• January 2005: In the suburban enclave of Southlake, Texas, police pulled over a driver whom they suspected was under the influence of alcohol. The middle-aged man behind the wheel flunked the sobriety test and was charged with DUI.

• He pleaded guilty. Since that was his third drunk driving charge, he was sentenced to spend thirty days in jail.

• His name was David Edmondson, and he had only weeks earlier been named the new CEO of RadioShack, the international corporation based in nearby Fort Worth, Texas.

• He was also a former minister.

• A newspaper reporter with the local Forth Worth Star-Telegram wondered: How had the newly-appointed boss of a multi-billion-dollar company - a former man of the cloth, no less - landed in jail after less than one month at the helm?

• RadioShack began as a simple operation in 1921. Two German-American brothers began it in Boston. They sold ham radio kits and electronic parts by mail order only.

• 1962: The Tandy Corporation purchased the nearly-defunct business and grew it into a popular electronics store. Although they initially catered to electronics do-it-yourselfers, RadioShack became the go-to spot for all sorts of audio, telephone, and video parts and accessories. If you needed cables, plugs, cords, videotapes, blank cassettes, or any obscure tech component, most likely you shopped for them at RadioShack.

• At its corporate peak in 1999, RadioShack had 8,000 stores around the world. Then came the 21st Century, and the stores went into rapid decline.

• By the time David Edmondson was named CEO, he had been with the corporation for twelve years. He had risen through the ranks to lead the marketing division. The magazine Advertising Age cited him in their list of the Top 100 Marketers in American business.

• Adding to his gravitas was the fact that before joining the company he had been minister of his own Baptist church.

• The Star-Telegram reporter found the resume Edmondson presented to RadioShack. It stated that he attended Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College and received degrees in theology and psychology in 1980. According to the newspaper report, though, records showed that Edmondson actually left the Bible school after only one year and received no degrees.

• Still, he was ordained and founded two churches; one in Omaha, the other in Colorado Springs. They did not take off, and he left the clergy.

• Edmondson joined RadioShack’s marketing division in the mid-90s, and he excelled. By age 46, he was in line for the top position. Then came the arrest and news stories.

• For a multi-billion-dollar corporation to have a lying former clergyman as CEO, not to mention a three-time drunk driver, was not a good look for an already-ailing company.

• Edmondson remained on the job for a year, however. He and RadioShack eventually parted ways in February 2006. Reports said he received a severance package worth over $1 million.

• In the end, no one could save the sinking ship. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and closed thousands of stores.

• As of August 2024, RadioShack operates just under 500 brick-and-mortar locations and is currently owned by Unicomer Group, a company based in El Salvador.

• David Edmondson, the Bible college dropout, went on to create internet tech companies worth millions.