Smith Named Largest Family-Owned Business by Houston Business Journal

The company was recognized for the second year in a row 

Houston, TX (September 13, 2022) – Smith, a leading global distributor of electronic components and semiconductors, today announces that it has been named the largest family-owned business in the greater Houston area by Houston Business Journal. The rankings were based off the company’s 2021 sales revenue. This is Smith’s second year in a row to hold the list’s top position. 

Brothers Bob and Lee Ackerley founded Smith in 1984, setting up their first office in Bob’s dining room in Houston, TX. Since then, the company has grown to include 17 sales offices and four operational hubs and employs nearly 1,000 people worldwide. Smith announced record-breaking revenues in 2021, generating more than $3.4 billion in global sales – more than doubling its 2020 revenue. 

 “It is an honor to be named Houston’s largest family-owned business again,” said Bob Ackerley, Co-Founder and Director at Smith. “Being based in Houston has been a very important factor contributing to our worldwide growth over the past 38 years. We will continue to help grow Texas’s thriving technology sector in the coming years and beyond.” 

The company has seen unprecedented success amidst the ongoing semiconductor shortage. Smith’s customer base grew 44 percent year over year in 2021, and its total workforce has increased by 17 percent since January of this year.  

“Despite the monumental growth we’ve experienced over the last several years, we are still very much a tight-knit company,” said Lee Ackerley, Co-Founder and Director at Smith. “We strive to create a work environment filled with opportunities for growth and professional development while maintaining the close bonds our employees have built across departments, offices, and even oceans. These investments in our people and processes will help to guide our success as we move into this new era of our business.” 

About Smith 

Founded in 1984, Smith sources, manages, and distributes the electronic components that go into everything from mobile phones and computers to appliances and directional drilling systems. In 17 cities around the world, Smith’s legion of employees communicates in 50 languages and dialects and buys and sells components 24 hours per day, generating global annual sales in excess of $3.4 billion in 2021. Smith is always moving: helping manufacturers navigate market shifts; customizing supply chain solutions; testing components using cutting-edge technology. The support of Smith’s flexible Intelligent DistributionTM model optimizes customers’ supply chains from beginning to end, including offering customized options for IT asset disposition that deliver maximum ROI, sustainability, and security. Smith’s testing and logistics hubs in Houston, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam cover critical areas like quality management, counterfeit prevention, and environmental safety. Smith’s operations, purchasing, and sales worldwide are seamlessly integrated with the company’s global IT infrastructure, offering real-time, global inventory and logistics visibility. Smith is the leading independent distributor of electronic components and ranks number seven among all global distributors. For more information, please visit www.smithweb.com or reach out to a Smith representative any time of day at +1 713.430.3000. 

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For more information, contact: 

Rich Witmer
Smith, Senior Director of Marketing
+1 713.430.2141