Sam Wyly was raised in small-town Louisiana. He got his MBA from the University of Michigan and began his career as a salesman for IBM. At 28, he created his first company, University Computing Company, the first of six enterprises Wyly grew to over $1 billion valuations.
Over the next fifty years, he became one of America's top multiple entrepreneurs, building companies in industries ranging from oil and gold mining to arts and crafts, from software to budget steakhouses, and clean electricity.
Wyly resides in Dallas and has six children, twelve grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. His memoir, 1,000 Dollars & an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire, was published in 2008, and his illustrated business biography, Beyond Tallulah, by Dennis Hamilton, came out in 2011. Texas Got It Right!, written with his son, Andrew Wyly, published in 2012, is a full-color, illustrated, provocative look at Texan policies, history, and culture. Published in 2016 by WylyBooks Company, a Texas non-profit, The Immigrant Spirit: How Newcomers Enrich America, was a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. This educational book provides a fascinating portrait of immigrants living the American Dream. Illustrated with colorful images, timelines, and facts, this book details the immigrant experience in America by highlighting how immigrants are, and always have been, essential to a strong economy. What makes Dallas one of the fastest growing cities in America? Why are people flocking to Frisco from towns across the nation? What attracts the largest companies in the world to move headquarters to Texas? The answers are simple: Dallas Got It Right! This dynamic new book, co-authored by Laurie Matthews and Andrew Wyly, offers intriguing insights into the many reasons all roads lead to Dallas. Wyly's "Dallas" rebels against limits, stretching from Colorado Springs; east to Jackson, Mississippi; south to Aggieland; and to the wild west of White Sands, New Mexico. "Dallas Got It Right!" is rich in history, entrepreneurial in spirit, expansive in technology, and inclusive in the community. Built on cotton, cows, oil, military, computer technology, and wholesaling and retail, Wyly reminds readers that, "Our Dallas feeds the world. Our Dallas is the technology capital of the world. Our Dallas is vital to America's military muscle.” "Dallas Got It Right!" offers a glimpse into the transcending vitality of Dallas--a spirit that connects the many hearts, generations, cultures, characters, and backgrounds that make Dallas what it is today. Available digitally and for pre-order now.
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