Chip Perry

Independent Consultant and First Employee, AutoTrader.com

Chip Perry became the first employee of AutoTrader.com (ATC) in August 1997 and was its President & CEO from inception until March 2013.  He started the company from scratch for Cox Enterprises and grew it from zero to $1.4 billion in revenue and over 3,500 employees.  After making a series of acquisitions beginning in 2010, the company was renamed the AutoTrader Group (ATG).  Today ATG is a top 10 worldwide Internet media company that includes  ATC, Kelley Blue Book and several auto dealer software and data analytics companies such as vAuto, VIN Solutions, Automotive Information Systems, Auction Genius, and Haystack Digital Marketing.  Prior to starting AutoTrader.com, Perry was a Vice President at The Times Mirror Company and The Los Angeles Times where he launched one of the first major newspaper online sites in 1993.  Earlier, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and an engineer and sales representative for Bechtel Group.  He is a civil engineering graduate of the University of Virginia and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.