Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum (born 1954) is an American billionaire and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Calhoun, Georgia-based Mohawk Industries, one of the world's largest flooring companies.
Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum is the son of Shirley and Alan Lorberbaum,[3] Jewish[4] migrants to the South from New York City.[3] In 1957, his parents founded Aladdin Mills, Inc. which made bathmats and rugs from extruded plastics; and in the 1970s, expanded into tufted carpet manufacturing, eventually growing the business into one of the largest carpet manufacturers in the country.[3] He has one sister, Suzanne Helen of Denver, and one brother, Mark Lorberbaum of Miami Beach.[3] He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Denver.[1]
Jeffrey joined the family business, carpet and rug manufacturer Aladdin Mills, in 1976, after graduating from the University of Denver. Lorberbaum held a number of leadership positions, eventually serving as Vice President of Operations from 1986 to 1994.[5] In 1994, Aladdin merged with Mohawk Industries - creating one of the largest flooring manufacturer in the United States - and his father became Mohawk’s majority shareholder and joined its Board of Directors.[3] 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 (2012)[1] partly through acquisitions that expanded the scope of the company into hard surface flooring (ceramic tile, laminate, hard wood) and provided access to new geographies.[6][7] In 2002, Lorberbaum 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 laminate flooring and MDF board (a composite used in do-it-yourself furniture) for $2.6 billion.[8]
Lorberbaum is married to Sarah Lorberbaum. They live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They have two children, a daughter, Lauren, who works as a consultant at PwC Advisory in New York City, and a son, Brian, an associate at Mohawk Industries.
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.[8]
Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK) is an American flooring manufacturer based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. Mohawk produces floor covering products for residential and commercial applications in North America and residential applications in Europe. The company manufacturing portfolio consists of soft flooring products (carpet and rug), hard flooring products (ceramic tile, natural stone and hardwood flooring), and laminate flooring. The company employs 32,500 in operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia and the United States.
In 2005, Mohawk was recognized as the most used, top brand familiarity, and top quality rating carpet product by the Builder magazine. [4]
