Who Runs Fort Lauderdale’s Biggest Companies? A Look at the Management Behind the Top 5
Quick answer: The five largest companies based in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area are AutoNation, Chewy, Cloud Software Group (Citrix), National Beverage Corp., and GQG Partners. They are led, respectively, by CEO Mike Manley, CEO Sumit Singh, CEO Tom Krause, founder-CEO Nick A. Caporella, and the co-founder duo of Rajiv Jain (Chairman & CIO) and Tim Carver (CEO). Together these firms span auto retail, e-commerce, enterprise software, beverages, and asset management — and their leadership styles are as different as their industries.
This article breaks down the people in charge: who they are, where they came from, how their leadership teams are structured, and what makes each management approach distinctive. Before each deep dive you’ll find a short, plain-English “Brian’s Quick Take” so you can scan the essentials in seconds.
A quick note on geography: Fort Lauderdale is the anchor city of Broward County, and “Fort Lauderdale” is commonly used to describe the broader metro. Three of these companies (AutoNation, Cloud Software Group, and GQG Partners) sit in Fort Lauderdale proper. Two (Chewy and National Beverage) are headquartered in neighboring Plantation, which is part of the immediate Greater Fort Lauderdale area. All five are pillars of the regional economy.
The Top 5 Largest Fort Lauderdale-Area Companies at a Glance
| Rank | Company | Industry | Top Executive | Approx. Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AutoNation (NYSE: AN) | Automotive retail | Mike Manley, CEO | ~$27B annual revenue |
| 2 | Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) | E-commerce / pet care | Sumit Singh, CEO | ~$12.6B annual revenue |
| 3 | Cloud Software Group / Citrix | Enterprise software | Tom Krause, CEO | ~$5B+ revenue (private) |
| 4 | National Beverage Corp. (Nasdaq: FIZZ) | Beverages | Nick A. Caporella, Chairman & CEO | ~$1.2B annual revenue |
| 5 | GQG Partners (ASX: GQG) | Asset management | Rajiv Jain (Chair/CIO) & Tim Carver (CEO) | ~$167B assets under management |
1. AutoNation: The Fortune 500 Auto Retailer Run by a Detroit Veteran
Brian’s Quick Take: AutoNation is the heavyweight of Fort Lauderdale — a Fortune 500 company and the largest automotive retailer in the United States. It’s run by Mike Manley, a no-nonsense car guy who used to run all of Fiat Chrysler. He came in to professionalize and grow the business after a legendary 20-year CEO retired, and his focus is squarely on profit per vehicle, the company’s own financing arm, and buying back stock. If you want to understand AutoNation’s management, think “global automotive operator brought in to run a giant retailer like a tight ship.”
Who is the CEO of AutoNation?
AutoNation is led by Michael “Mike” Manley, who has served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board since November 2021. Manley, who is in his early sixties, is one of the most experienced executives in the global auto industry. Before joining AutoNation he was Head of Americas at Stellantis, and prior to that he served as CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) from 2018 to 2021, steering the company through the merger that created Stellantis.
Manley’s career stretches back to the DaimlerChrysler era. Over more than two decades he ran the Jeep and Ram brands, oversaw FCA’s Asia-Pacific operations, and held a series of senior international sales, marketing, and product-planning roles. That operational pedigree is the lens through which to understand his leadership at AutoNation: he treats a sprawling national dealer network as a complex industrial operation to be optimized, not just a collection of car lots. He also serves on the board of Dover Corporation, a diversified industrial manufacturer.
How AutoNation’s leadership team is structured
Manley succeeded Mike Jackson, the long-tenured chief executive who led AutoNation for roughly two decades and became synonymous with the brand. That transition — from a founder-era figurehead to a global automotive operator — marked a deliberate shift toward institutional, metrics-driven management.
The day-to-day finance function sits with Thomas A. Szlosek, who serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and signs the company’s SEC filings. Around them is a board stacked with seasoned corporate leaders, including:
- G. Mike Mikan — Compensation Committee chair, vice chairman and president of NeueHealth, and former CEO of UnitedHealth’s Optum subsidiary.
- Lisa Lutoff-Perlo — former CEO of Celebrity Cruises, bringing consumer and operational depth.
- Claire Bennett — a global consumer-services veteran formerly on the executive committee of InterContinental Hotels Group.
- David Edelson — former CFO of Loews Corporation and former corporate treasurer of JPMorgan Chase.
- Jacqueline A. Travisano — chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee.
A notable governance detail
At the company’s 2026 annual meeting, shareholders rejected a stockholder proposal that would have required an independent board chairman, voting overwhelmingly against it. That outcome keeps decision-making authority concentrated and signals investor confidence in the current leadership structure.
What management is focused on
Under Manley, AutoNation’s strategy emphasizes unit profitability (gross profit per new and used vehicle), the build-out of its captive lending arm AutoNation Finance (which has grown its loan portfolio past $2 billion), expansion of standalone AutoNation USA used-vehicle stores, and aggressive share repurchases. The company reported record after-sales gross profit and rising adjusted earnings per share in early fiscal 2026 — evidence of a management team squeezing more value from each transaction even as overall unit sales soften. AutoNation employs roughly 25,000 people and has been headquartered in Fort Lauderdale since around 2009.
2. Chewy: A Former Amazon Operator Building a Pet-Care Empire
Brian’s Quick Take: Chewy is the e-commerce giant of the Fort Lauderdale area, and it’s run by Sumit Singh — one of the youngest CEOs to hit the Fortune 500. Singh is a classic operator: he spent years at Amazon and Dell learning how to run logistics-heavy businesses at scale, and he’s applied that playbook to pet supplies. The big idea under his management is turning a pet-food website into a full pet-health-and-wellness ecosystem — subscriptions, vet clinics, pharmacy, and insurance. Think “Amazon-style operator obsessed with customer experience and recurring revenue.”
Who is the CEO of Chewy?
Chewy is led by Sumit Singh, who has been Chief Executive Officer since March 2018 and sits on the board. Singh joined Chewy in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer before stepping into the top job. His background is heavily operational: he spent more than a decade at Dell Technologies and held senior leadership roles at Amazon, where he worked across fulfillment, transportation, and global operations.
Singh led Chewy through its $1 billion-plus IPO in 2019 and its international expansion beginning in 2023. He has been recognized on lists ranging from Bloomberg’s “Bloomberg 50” to rankings of the youngest Fortune 500 CEOs, and he serves on the board of Booking Holdings. His compensation is overwhelmingly performance- and equity-based — his fiscal 2024 total pay of roughly $29 million was tied largely to stock rather than salary, aligning his incentives with shareholders.
Chewy’s founder and ownership story
Chewy was co-founded in 2011 by Ryan Cohen, who later became famous as the activist investor and chairman behind GameStop. Cohen built Chewy into a category-defining pet retailer and sold it to PetSmart in one of the largest e-commerce acquisitions of its era before departing in 2018 — handing the operational reins to Singh, who has run it ever since.
How Chewy’s leadership team is structured
Singh’s executive bench has seen recent change at the top of finance. In February 2026, Chewy promoted Chris Deppe to Chief Financial Officer. Deppe is a homegrown leader who joined Chewy in 2022 and previously spent more than 16 years at Amazon in senior finance roles across transportation and fulfillment — reinforcing the company’s Amazon-influenced operating culture. On the technology side, Chewy named Yunyan Wang as Chief Technology Officer to drive its data, personalization, and AI initiatives.
What management is focused on
Under Singh, Chewy’s strategy centers on recurring revenue and customer lifetime value. Its Autoship auto-replenishment subscription consistently grows faster than overall sales, and the company is pushing into higher-margin and “stickier” services: Chewy Vet Care clinics, a pet pharmacy, pet health insurance, and a paid membership program called Chewy+. Singh has also signaled that the company is leaning into AI to route demand and deepen personalization. In fiscal 2025 Chewy generated about $12.6 billion in net sales with net income of roughly $223 million, serving more than 21 million active customers from its Plantation, Florida headquarters. Its market capitalization sits in the low-teens of billions of dollars.
3. Cloud Software Group (Citrix): A Private-Equity Software Conglomerate
Brian’s Quick Take: This is the company many locals still call “Citrix.” After a $16.5 billion take-private deal in 2022, Citrix merged with TIBCO to become Cloud Software Group, and it’s now run by Tom Krause — a former Broadcom finance chief known for ruthless cost discipline. Krause’s management style is the opposite of warm and fuzzy: cut costs, focus on the most profitable customers, and run the business for cash. It’s the most controversial leadership story of the five, and it even has a Washington, D.C. subplot. Think “private-equity software operator running a turnaround.”
Who is the CEO of Cloud Software Group?
Cloud Software Group (CSG) is led by Tom Krause, who became CEO in July 2022 when the company was formed. Krause is a finance-and-strategy executive, not a product founder. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Broadcom and later as President of the Broadcom Software Group, where he was deeply involved in major acquisitions, including the negotiations around Broadcom’s purchase of VMware. He holds an economics degree from Princeton University.
CSG itself was created when Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital (an affiliate of Elliott Management) took Citrix private in a roughly $16.5 billion deal and merged it with TIBCO Software, a Vista-owned company. The combined conglomerate now houses a portfolio of enterprise software brands including Citrix, TIBCO, NetScaler, Spotfire, Jaspersoft, and Arctera, all headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. Citrix itself was founded in 1989 and had grown to more than $3 billion in annual revenue before going private.
How CSG’s leadership team is structured
Krause’s chief lieutenant is Andy Nallappan, who serves as President and Chief Operating Officer and handles much of the operational execution across the software portfolio. The ownership structure — backed by Vista and Elliott — means management answers primarily to private-equity sponsors focused on cash generation and debt repayment rather than to public-market shareholders.
The Washington subplot
Krause’s tenure includes an unusual chapter: in 2025 he briefly served as Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury (from roughly February to June), a role connected to the federal government efficiency efforts of that period. The dual role drew ethics scrutiny because CSG holds government software contracts. Krause subsequently concluded his Treasury involvement and remained CEO of Cloud Software Group.
What management is focused on
The CSG playbook under Krause is a classic private-equity software model: aggressive cost reduction, organizational streamlining, a return-to-office posture, and a focus on the largest, most profitable enterprise customers. The approach has generated significant layoffs and internal friction, but it reflects the sponsors’ priority of running a leaner, cash-generative business. For a company that was once a publicly traded Fort Lauderdale tech icon, the management story is now fundamentally about financial engineering and operational discipline rather than growth-at-all-costs innovation.
4. National Beverage Corp.: The Family-Controlled Maker of LaCroix
Brian’s Quick Take: National Beverage is the company behind LaCroix sparkling water, and it’s one of the most unusual management stories in corporate America. It’s run — at age 89 — by its founder Nick Caporella, who controls roughly three-quarters of the stock and has held the top job since 1985. The company is famously lean, family-run, and quirky: the CEO takes no direct cash salary, his son is president, and management services flow through an outside company he controls. Think “founder-controlled family business that happens to be publicly traded.”
Who is the CEO of National Beverage?
National Beverage is chaired and led by Nick A. Caporella, who founded the company in 1985 and has served as Chairman and CEO ever since — a tenure of roughly four decades. Now in his late eighties, Caporella is a controlling shareholder, beneficially owning around 73% of the outstanding stock, primarily through an entity called IBS Partners Ltd. That concentration of ownership gives him near-total control over the company’s direction.
One of the most distinctive features of his leadership: Caporella does not receive cash compensation directly from National Beverage. Instead, his services — and those of certain other senior personnel, including the principal financial officer — are provided through an outside management company he controls, Corporate Management Advisors, Inc. (CMA). This related-party arrangement is reviewed annually by the company’s independent directors.
How National Beverage’s leadership team is structured
The management team is small and family-anchored:
- Nick A. Caporella — Chairman and CEO, founder, controlling shareholder.
- Joseph G. Caporella — President and director, and Nick’s son, who has served as president since 2002.
- George R. Bracken — Executive Vice President of Finance, the company’s principal financial officer.
The board is compact (around five members in staggered classes) and notably long-tenured, with average board service measured in decades. National Beverage operates as a “controlled company,” which means it is exempt from some standard governance requirements; it has a combined chairman/CEO and historically no separate lead independent director — a structure that concentrates authority but has also drawn governance critiques.
What management is focused on
National Beverage’s portfolio is built around its flagship LaCroix sparkling water, alongside legacy brands like Shasta, Faygo, Rip It energy drinks, Everfresh, Clear Fruit, and Mr. Pure. Management runs the company with an emphasis on profitability, lean operations, and innovation in the fast-growing sparkling-water category rather than on aggressive acquisition-fueled expansion. In its most recent fiscal year the company generated roughly $1.2 billion in net sales, with a market capitalization in the low-single-digit billions. Founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1985, the company is today headquartered in neighboring Plantation.
5. GQG Partners: A Star Stock-Picker and His Business-Builder Partner
Brian’s Quick Take: GQG Partners punches far above its weight. It’s a relatively small team in Fort Lauderdale that manages an enormous pile of money — well over $160 billion. The genius of its management structure is a clean split: Rajiv Jain, a star investor, makes all the calls on the portfolios (and has literal veto power), while his co-founder Tim Carver runs the business so Jain never has to. It’s high-conviction, concentrated, and built around one exceptional stock-picker. Think “a brilliant investor paired with a CEO whose job is to keep everything else out of his way.”
Who runs GQG Partners?
GQG Partners has a deliberately two-headed leadership structure built by its co-founders:
- Rajiv Jain — Chairman and Chief Investment Officer. Jain is the firm’s investment engine. He serves as portfolio manager across all of GQG’s public-equity strategies and holds primary and veto authority over all portfolio management decisions. Originally from India, he studied in India before earning an MBA in finance and international business at the University of Miami. Before founding GQG, he was Chief Investment Officer and co-CEO of Vontobel Asset Management, where he helped grow assets from under $400 million to nearly $50 billion.
- Tim Carver — Chief Executive Officer. Carver runs the business side of GQG. Jain specifically recruited him as CEO because of his experience guiding young investment firms, allowing Jain to focus exclusively on investing while Carver handles operations, distribution, and corporate strategy.
This division of labor is the entire point of GQG’s design: keep the star investor focused on markets, and let a dedicated executive run everything else.
How GQG’s leadership and ownership are structured
GQG is majority employee-owned and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: GQG) following its October 2021 IPO, in which employees received equity stakes. The founders keep the majority of their personal net worth invested alongside clients — a structural alignment management emphasizes heavily. The firm recently saw a leadership transition in finance, with its long-serving Chief Financial Officer retiring in January 2026. Beyond Fort Lauderdale, GQG maintains offices in cities including London and Sydney.
What management is focused on
GQG’s investment philosophy — “Global Quality Growth” — favors concentrated, high-conviction positions in durable, quality businesses, with a strong emphasis on managing downside risk. The firm is known for making bold, sometimes contrarian bets, with major holdings that have included names like Nvidia, Petrobras, and large tobacco companies. As of the end of 2025 the firm managed roughly $163.9 billion, rising to about $166.9 billion by April 2026, and generated 2025 net revenue of around $808 million with net income of roughly $463 million — remarkable output from a team of only a couple hundred employees, a testament to a management model built around one exceptional investor supported by a lean, focused organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale?
By annual revenue, AutoNation is the largest company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale proper, generating roughly $27 billion a year as the biggest automotive retailer in the United States. It is also the most prominent Fortune 500 company directly tied to the city.
Who is the CEO of AutoNation?
Mike Manley has been CEO of AutoNation since November 2021. He previously served as CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and as Head of Americas for Stellantis.
Is Chewy headquartered in Fort Lauderdale?
Chewy is headquartered in Plantation, Florida, an inner-ring suburb that is part of the Greater Fort Lauderdale / Broward County metro. It is led by CEO Sumit Singh.
Who owns Citrix now?
Citrix is part of Cloud Software Group, a private company formed in 2022 when Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital took Citrix private and merged it with TIBCO. The CEO is Tom Krause.
Who makes LaCroix and who runs the company?
LaCroix is made by National Beverage Corp., which is chaired and led by its founder Nick A. Caporella, who has run the company since 1985 and controls roughly 73% of its shares.
What does GQG Partners do?
GQG Partners is a Fort Lauderdale-based global asset management firm that manages more than $160 billion in equity portfolios. It was co-founded by Rajiv Jain (Chairman & CIO) and Tim Carver (CEO) in 2016.
Which of these companies are publicly traded?
AutoNation (NYSE: AN), Chewy (NYSE: CHWY), National Beverage (Nasdaq: FIZZ), and GQG Partners (ASX: GQG) are publicly traded. Cloud Software Group (Citrix) is privately held by its private-equity owners.
The Bottom Line
The management teams behind Fort Lauderdale’s five largest companies reflect five very different models of corporate leadership. AutoNation imported a global automotive operator to run a national retail machine with discipline. Chewy is steered by an Amazon-trained operator turning a pet retailer into a recurring-revenue health platform. Cloud Software Group is a private-equity turnaround run for cash by a finance veteran. National Beverage is a founder-controlled family business that has stayed lean and quirky for four decades. And GQG Partners is a star investor’s firm, deliberately split so the genius can focus on the markets while a partner runs the shop.
For a single metropolitan area, that’s a remarkable range of leadership philosophies — and a useful reminder that “good management” looks completely different depending on the business you’re trying to run.
References and Resources
- AutoNation, Inc. — SEC filings (Form 10-Q and DEF 14A proxy statement, FY2026), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, sec.gov
- “Former FCA CEO Mike Manley to lead AutoNation,” CBT News — cbtnews.com
- AutoNation, Inc. — Form 8-K (2026 annual meeting voting results), sec.gov
- Chewy, Inc. — Form 8-K (Q1 FY2026 and FY2025 financial results; CFO appointment), sec.gov
- “Who is the CEO of Chewy in 2026? Sumit Singh’s Bio,” Clay — clay.com
- Sumit Singh executive profile, Chewy — chewy.com/sumit-singh
- “Chewy’s Autoship subscription grows,” CX Dive / Yahoo Finance
- Cloud Software Group — “About Us” leadership page — cloud.com/about-us
- “Cloud Software Group” and “Citrix Systems” — Wikipedia (company overviews)
- “Tom Krause (business executive)” — Wikipedia
- National Beverage Corp. — Wikipedia and SEC proxy filings (DEF 14A), sec.gov
- Nick A. Caporella executive profile — Fintool / Simply Wall St
- “Who Owns National Beverage Company?” — MatrixBCG.com
- GQG Partners Inc. — official site, gqg.com (firm overview and leadership)
- “GQG Partners (GQG) AGM 2026 Summary,” Quartr — quartr.com
- GQG Partners — Morningstar asset-management company profile
- “Rajiv Jain – GQG Partners – 2026 13F Holdings, Performance, and AUM,” Insider Monkey
- “Biggest Companies in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,” FinanceCharts — financecharts.com
- “Top 30 Successful Companies in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,” South FL Business News — southflbusinessnews.com
- “The Largest Employers in Fort Lauderdale, FL,” FloridaSearch — floridasearch.com
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, or legal advice. Company figures are based on the most recent publicly available data as of mid-2026 and are subject to change. Leadership and financial details should be verified against each company’s current SEC filings and official disclosures.
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