User:BLong2438/Johnny Morris

John (Johnny) L Morris (born 1948) is an American billionaire businessman, and the founder, majority owner, and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, a hunting and fishing retail chain in the United States and Canada. He is also founder of the White River Marine Group, which is the largest boat manufacturer in the US.

Morris is also noted conservationist who opened the Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Mo., in 2017. .

Early life
John Morris was born in Springfield, Missouri in 1948. Morris was educated at Drury University. While in college, he began to fish professionally on the Bassmasters circuit and became frustrated by the lack of a choices of local bait shops.

Career
Morris founded Bass Pro Shops in 1972 when he began selling fishing equipment in the back of one of his father's Brown Derby liquor stores in Springfield. According to Forbes, Morris has a net worth of $5 billion, as of July 2018. Morris is also the founder of the White River Marine Group, the largest boat manufacturer in the US by volume.

Morris is also a noted conservationist who opened the Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Mo., in 2017. The museum helps bring visitors to Bass Pro's flagship store in Springfield with which it shares a location.

Bass Pro
Morris founded Bass Pro Shops in 1972 when he began stocking professional fishing equipment in an 8-foot square space in the back of one of his father's Brown Derby liquor stores in Springfield. In 1974, buoyed by early enthusiasm from anglers interested in professional equipment, Morris created a 180-page mail order catalog that advertised more than 1,500 items. He quickly sold out of his first printing of 10,000 copies. Within fifteen years, Morris and Bass Pro would be distributing more than 20 million catalogs annually worldwide. In Sept., 2017, Bass Pro Shops acquired one of its biggest competitors, Cabela’s, for $4 billion, doubling its revenue and reach.

Tracker Boats
In 1978, Morris and Hall of Fame fisherman Charlie Campbell, designed and introduced the aluminum Bass Tracker rig, a ready-to-fish bass boat. The first edition cost $2,995 and included an outboard motor, a depth sounder, an aerated live well and a drive-on trailer. Tracker quickly became the No. 1 selling fishing boat brand in America despite many attempts to copy the model. In 2015, Tracker Marine Group was renamed White River Marine Group, and as of 2018, more than 750,000 Tracker boats had sold.

Net Worth
According to Forbes, as of April 23, 2019, Morris has a net worth of $6.4 billion, placing him 109th on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

Conservation
Morris’ passion for wildlife conservation has earned him numerous awards, including the Audubon Medal. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has named its lifetime achievement award for conservation after Morris.

In 1990, Morris purchased Dogwood Canyon, a 10,000-acre property on the Missouri-Arkansas border, and transformed it into a nonprofit wildlife reserve and one of the few fly-fishing destinations in the Midwest.

In 2017, Morris opened the 350,000-square-foot Wonders of Wildlife National Museum (WOW) contains 1.5 miles of indoor pathways, multiple four-dimensional dioramas of extreme wildlife habitats three freshwater and saltwater aquariums with more than 35,000 underwater animals. WOW works in conjunction with 40 different conservation organizations. In its first year, it drew 1.6 million visitors and It was named best new attraction of 2017 by USA Today.

Personal life
Morris married Jeannie in 1986 and they raised their four children inSpringfield, Missouri.