ALBERT NAHMAD

CEO, WATSCO, MIAMI

Nahmad has grown Watsco, the company he bought in 1973, into the largest distributor of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment and related parts and supplies in the U.S. The company employs some 5,200 and has satellite operations in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Under Nahmad’s leadership, the company has grown revenue from $4.54 billion in 2018 to $4.77 billion in 2019. Watsco’s annual report for 2019 states that its e-commerce revenue had reached $1.5 billion, a 25% increase over 2018.

Nahmad learned how to buy and manage companies while at conglomerate W.R. Grace. In 1988, he purchased Genaire, a distribution business that paved the way for the company’s entry into the HVAC distribution industry.

For the past three decades Watsco has been on a buying spree, purchasing some 60 HVAC distributors throughout the U.S., including one of Philadelphia’s largest family-owned businesses in 2019.