Upside Down

Founded in 1938 as a Midwest mail order company supplying replacement tractor parts, Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) today has $6.8 billion in annual revenues, 1,630 stores in 49 states, 26,000 team members and one CEO at the bottom, not the top, of its organization chart. The story of how this company grew is amazing enough. The story of how successive generations of leaders have literally turned the company's culture "upside down" is even more amazing. Most amazing of all, however, is how the company, by placing team members and customers first, became the number one stock on NASDAQ for a 13 year period of time, outgrowing much more famous names such as Apple, Whole Foods, and Starbucks.