Eric Smidt started Harbor Freight with his father as a teenager and turned the mail-order tool business into a national discount-tool retailer that he ultimately owned outright. [1][2]
Building Harbor Freight from mail order
Smidt was 17 when he and his father Allan started Harbor Freight in Southern California in 1977. The business began as a small mail-order tool operation, giving Smidt an unusually early operating role inside a family venture rather than a conventional post-college business career. [1][2]
Smidt focused the company on buying tools directly from factories and removing distribution layers that raised retail prices. Harbor Freight opened its first store in 1980, Smidt became president in 1985, and the catalog-and-store business expanded steadily through the following years. [1][2]
In 1999 Smidt bought his father's half of Harbor Freight and became its sole owner. The company then accelerated its store expansion while retaining the direct-sourcing and value positioning that had shaped the original mail-order business, leaving Smidt's fortune concentrated in the retailer he had spent his career building. [1][2]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 14, 2026.
- Eric Smidt, Owner and Founder · Harbor Freight Tools
- Eric Smidt · Forbes · Mar 10, 2026
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