David C. Pratt

David C. Pratt is an American businessman and philanthropist who has, since 2006, served as controlling owner, chairman and CEO of Gander Mountain, the largest U.S. retail network of outdoor specialty stores for shooting sports, hunting, fishing and camping.[1]

Pratt, the former chairman and chief executive of pesticide maker United Industries Inc., struck it rich in 1999 when he sold a controlling interest in United to Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Partners for $620 million.[2] United later was sold to the company now known as Spectrum Brands.[3]

Pratt also is a minority owner of the St. Louis Cardinals major league baseball team.[3] In the Rocky Mountain West, Pratt is best known as the developer of Three Forks Ranch, a luxury hunting and fishing resort that straddles northwest Colorado and Wyoming.[2]

Career

Pratt's investment interest in Gander Mountain, a chain of stores that appeals to outdoor enthusiasts, began in the early 2000s. His Gander Mountain holdings reached 1.4 million shares by early 2005 and, in August of that year, a Pratt family trust infused the company with $20 million more in cash in exchange for a debt note. In December 2006, the Pratt family trust swapped the $20 million debt note and $30 million more in cash for more than 5.7 million additional shares. The deal made Pratt the company's largest shareholder and solidified his appointment as chairman the same month.[2] As of 2016, Gander Mountain has 152 stores in 26 states.

In 1999, Pratt purchased the 200,000-acre Three Forks Ranch in northwest Colorado to raise cattle. He has since spent more than $100 million of his fortune turning the ranch into a luxury hunting and fishing resort, Allison Pratt, Three Forks’ marketing director, told Forbes magazine in 2010. “My father wanted to create something people would never expect in this corner of the world,” she said.[4]

In 2003, Pratt gave a $6 million challenge grant to St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur, Mo., to be used for the medical center's new cancer center. At the time, the gift was the largest in the medical center's 132-year history. The cancer center is called The David C. Pratt Cancer Center.[5]

Gun-sales controversies

As controlling owner of one of the largest U.S. gun retailers, Pratt has been criticized in political quarters over gun-sales practices and the industry's opposition to Gun control legislation.

In January 2013, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat, called on Pratt and others of the nation's largest gun retailers to participate in a temporary moratorium on selling assault-style rifles until Congress has considered legislation to reduce gun violence. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, sales of assault-style rifles have skyrocketed, Schumer wrote.[6]

Earlier that some month, Jackie Holcombe, mayor of Morrisville, North Carolina, wrote an open letter to Pratt questioning her earlier statements supporting Gander Mountain's 2012 expansion to her town. "The availability of semi-automatic Military-style rifles and high capacity ammunition magazines at the Morrisville Gander Mountain has not been great news for our citizens," she wrote.[7]

James Holmes, convicted of the 2012 Aurora shooting in which 12 people were killed and 70 were injured, bought two of the four firearms he used in the attack at Gander Mountain stores.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "About Us | Help Center | Gander Mountain". www.gandermountain.com. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  2. 1 2 3 "David Pratt: King of the mountain - St. Louis Business Journal". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  3. 1 2 "David C. Pratt: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  4. ↑ Abel, Ann (2010-05-24). "True West - Forbes". Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  5. ↑ "Pratt gives $6 million challenge gift to St. John's Mercy - St. Louis Business Journal". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
  6. ↑ "SCHUMER CALLS ON WALMART AND OTHER MAJOR RETAILERS TO SUSPEND SALES OF ASSAULT WEAPONS WHILE GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION IS DEBATED IN CONGRESS | U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York". www.schumer.senate.gov. Retrieved 2016-07-04.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ Holcombe, Jackie (2013-01-03). "'Tis about Morrisville: An Open Letter to Gander Mountain CEO David Pratt". 'Tis about Morrisville. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
  8. ↑ "Colo. shooter purchased guns legally from 3 different stores". Retrieved 2016-07-03.
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