Who is Bill Farley?

Bill Farley is a well known name in industrial circles. Hedepartment. It was after quite a few years that he
is the chairman and owner of Farley Industrieswas sent to Chicago on transfer for the post of
located in Chicago, Illinois. An avid follower of fitnessregional manager in charge of NL's metals division.
he has several leading brands to his credit such asAfter having worked with NL industries for a good 6
the likes of Munsingwear, BVD and the very popularyears, he shifted to Lehman Brothers in 1972, as an
Fruit of the Loom.associate in corporate finance.
His humble beginningsThe acquisitions that followed
Bill Farley was born in the town of Pawtucket inBill Farley bought his first ever company - Anaheim
Rhode Island. His mother was a factory worker andCitrus Products in the year 1976 - just 4 years after
his father worked as a musician and a mailman. In hisjoining Lehman Brothers. It was during the same year
early days of struggle, Bill Farley used to earn histhat Farley became a partial owner of the famous
living by delivering Sunday newspapers. Later on heChicago White Sox. Then a year later he acquired
switched jobs to work for a toy manufacturer andBaumfolder, which happened to be a subsidiary of Bell
later as a lifeguard. Farley did his schooling from the& Howell. During a time span of five years - from
Bowdoin College. A proficient scholar as well as an1980 to 1985, Bill Farley managed a series of
athlete, Farley graduated from college in 1964 with aacquisitions - from companies such as Coal Creek
degree in government. He decided to try his luck inMining Company, Health Foods, Inc., The NL
the world by traveling in the United States.Industries' Metals Group, and Northwest Industries
From rags to riches(which included Fruit of the Loom). His companies
Like many clichés even this one seems to holdwere at an all time high during the 1990s - during that
true for Bill Farley - the man literally made it fromtime his companies employed more than 50000
rags to riches. There used to be a time when hepeople and had a turnover of over 4 billion USD.
didn't have enough money to eat. At such times heThe way things stand today
would earn his living by selling encyclopedias fromToday Farley has an impressive empire to his credit.
door to door in Los Angeles. This ad-hoc training inHe is the proud owner of Farley industries (FI), as
door-to-door selling helped him become a leading saleswell as the CEO of Body Wise International located in
manager and trainer as time went by. He decidedTustin California. Body Wise is a leading marketer of
that education would play a key role in shaping hisnutritional supplements. Farley incidentally is also the
career growth. That's why in 1966 Bill Farley enrolledCEO of Unity Group LLC located in Washington D.C.
in law school at Boston College. He graduated threewhich is a private security force and defense
years later with a J.D. degree. Soon he went on tocontractor that operates in high risk zones like
join the famous NL industries in New York andIndonesia, Iraq and Sudan etc.
started working in their mergers and acquisitions