Stephen Adams (businessman)

Stephen Adams (November 7, 1937 – March 14, 2024) was an American businessman, private equity investor, and philanthropist.His holdings have included Good Sam Enterprises, a national publisher, retail stores, and member-based direct marketing organization directed toward owners of recreational vehicles and Adams Outdoor Advertising, an operator of outdoor advertising structures in the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.His previous holdings have included operators of television and radio stations, print publishers, cola bottlers and community banks.Since the 1970s, Adams has served as chairman of privately owned banking, bottling, publishing, outdoor advertising, television and radio companies in which he held a controlling ownership interest.In 1995, AGI acquired the 13-year-old San Francisco Thrift and Loan and moved the company's headquarters to Ventura, California.[19] The Adams Family Foundation, founded by Adams and his wife, Denise, has made grants to a variety of educational institutions including Yale University, Stanford University,[20] Westmont College, the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, and The Blake School.[23] Adams was selected to receive the Arbuckle Award from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 2006.Adams lived in Roxbury, Connecticut; Healdsburg, California; Big Timber, Montana; and Saint Emilion (Bordeaux), France.