TYB
Tonkawa Inc
Tonkawa, Inc. operates as a private family office. The Company handles the affairs for the Carlson Family.
https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0833643D:US#xj4y7vzkg
Curt Carlson (d. 1999) got his start selling Gold Bond trading stamps in the 1930s. Today his daughters Barbara Carlson Gage and Marilyn Carlson Nelson own Carlson Co., which operates over 1,370 hotels (Radisson, Country Inn & Suites) and Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a travel agency that works primarily with business travelers. Though Barbara is no longer involved, Marilyn sits on the board and her daughter Diana is chairman of Carlson, which sold restaurant chain TGI Fridays to Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Partners in 2014 for an undisclosed sum. Carlson purchased the chain in 1975 when there were just 12 restaurants. Carlson used the cash from the T.G. I. Friday deal to buy the 45% of Carlson Wagonlit Travel owned by JP Morgan Chase for a reported $300 million.
Forbes Lists
#122 America's Richest Families (2015)Dropped off in 2016
Personal Stats
Fortune Founded 1938
Source of Wealth hotels, restaurants, travel
Company Headquarters Minnetonka, MN
https://www.forbes.com/profile/carlson/?sh=6fdcfe3c4312
Curtis Leroy Carlson (July 9, 1914 – February 19, 1999) was an American businessman and founder of Carlson and Radisson Hotel Group.
Early life and education
Carlson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Charles and Leatha Carlson. Charles Carlson was a Swedish-American immigrant who arrived as a child in Minnesota; Leatha Carlson was born in Downing, Wisconsin of a Danish father and Swedish mother. Curt began a career with Procter and Gamble after earning a BA in Economics in 1937 from the University of Minnesota where he served as President, and Recruitment Chair for Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity- MN Alpha chapter.
Career
Carlson began working for Procter & Gamble and then founded the Gold Bond Stamp Company in 1938.[4] Carlson used "Gold Bond Stamps", a consumer loyalty program based on trading stamps, to provide consumer incentive for grocery stores. Carlson was the first entrepreneur to develop a loyalty program for the grocery chain through the issuance of trading stamps. What began as a simple loyalty program for grocers in the Midwest grew into one of the largest service providers of frequent shopper / buyer programs across a variety of retail and hospitality sectors.
Carlson expanded his offerings by purchasing the downtown Minneapolis Radisson Hotel in 1960 and building it into a national chain. He also acquired TGI Fridays, Carlson Leisure Group and hundreds of other hospitality businesses.
The Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota is named for him, in recognition of his $25 million gift, the largest single donation to a public university at that time.[8] Curt Carlson created an estate in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin which was later converted to a business resort for corporations.
Awards
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Linnean Medal presented by H.M. Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden
Viking Baron Award from the American Swedish Cultural Foundation
Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, 1977[10]
Horatio Alger Award; the Swedish-American of the Year Award, Stockholm, Sweden in 1981
Chairperson Emeriti of the Swedish Council of America from 1985 to 1989
Town and Country magazine Philanthropist of the Year Award, 1987–1988
International Citizen of the Year Award from the City of Minneapolis
1989 Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame inductee[11]
1995 DeMolay International Hall of Fame[12]
Selected works
Good as Gold : the Story of the Carlson Companies (Carlson Companies, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1994)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Carlson