Bill Schultz (Fender)

William Charles Schultz (July 30, 1926 – September 21, 2006) was an American engineer who was CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation from 1981 to 2005. Schultz is credited as the "man who saved Fender" for overseeing the company's return to profitability and expansion after its sale by CBS in 1985.^[1]

Biography[edit]

Schultz was born on July 30, 1926 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Schultz graduated as an engineer from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1965 and went to work for Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore. Schultz received his master's degree in aerospace engineering while working at Bendix Aerospace on radar tracking devices for the Apollo program. In 1971, he received an MBA from Rutgers University and began working at the CBS Corporation.^[2]

In 1981, Schultz was working at Yamaha when he was asked by John C. McLaren, then-president of CBS Musical Instruments, to become the president of Fender. When CBS decided to sell the struggling company in 1985, Schultz and several other employees purchased it.^[1] Schultz was among the management team who recommended CBS to start an alternate production of Japanese Fenders in 1982, as the company's sales suffered from the onslaught of copies produced by Japanese manufacturers such as Tokai and Fernandes. Schultz established Fender's manufacturing facility in Corona, California and in 1991 moved the company headquarters to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1991.

Schultz (and through him, Fender) became a major donor to Duquesne University, which honored him in 2001 with a Lifetime Achievement Award and a week of concerts.^[3] He retired in 2005 and was replaced by William Mendello,^[2] though he remained on the board of directors. Schultz died in 2006 of cancer.^[1]

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