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Jimmy Haslam inherited a major role in the Pilot family business founded by his father, then spent decades helping expand the travel-center company before the family ultimately sold it to Berkshire Hathaway. [1][2]
Expanding the family travel-center business
Pilot was already a substantial family enterprise before Jimmy Haslam became its leading executive. Pilot says his father, Jim Haslam, founded the company in 1958 from a single Virginia gas station, while Forbes records that Jimmy joined the board in 1975 when the company already had about $50 million in annual revenue. [1][2]
Haslam later spent roughly 25 years as Pilot's chief executive and remained chairman as the company grew into one of North America's largest travel-center operators. The family eventually sold Pilot to Berkshire Hathaway through a series of transactions completed between 2017 and 2024. [2][1]
His fortune therefore began with a meaningful inherited family-business platform rather than a startup he created himself. The evidence also shows decades of operating leadership and substantial growth under his generation, making active expansion central to the biography rather than passive inheritance alone. [2][1]
The value paid for Pilot in the Berkshire Hathaway transactions applied to the family company's ownership interests, not to Jimmy Haslam alone. His personal wealth reflects the portion of those family economics attributable to him plus other documented holdings, while Pilot's total enterprise value remains a company-level measure. [1][2]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 15, 2026.
- Company History · Pilot Company
- Jimmy Haslam · Forbes · Mar 10, 2026
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