Area executive, a Wall Street rock star, dies at 73

Brian Jellison was a Wall Street rock star, mostly for his unparalleled, 17-year run of success at the helm of Lakewood Ranch-based Roper Technologies.

The company, for one, grew its market capitalization from $1.5 billion to more than $30 billion during his tenure. And from 2003 to 2017, Roper’s compound annual shareholder return was 19%, compared to 9% for the S&P 500. More confirmation: Harvard Business Review named Jellison one the best performing CEOs in the world, while Institutional Investor named him the best CEO in the electrical equipment and multi-industry sector.

But away from Wall Street, in Ohio, where Jellison grew up, or outside Atlanta, Roper’s former headquarters, or in Sarasota, his home for at least the last decade, Jellison was known more for his devotion to his family. That includes his wife of 52 years, Sheila Jellison, three daughters and eight grandchildren.

Jellison died Nov. 2 after a brief illness. He was 73.

“He enjoyed furniture shopping, playing euchre, bargaining on any given day and was a quality 5 p.m. Christmas Eve shopper,” states the official obituary for Jellison, an avid sports fan who rooted for Indiana basketball and football and the Cincinnati Reds. “He loved spending time with his wife, daughters and their families, often taking wonderful trips to national parks or spending time at their family lake house.”

Jellison’s first real-life work experience was at his father’s local hardware store in Portland, Ind. After college — a bachelor’s in business economics and public policy from Indiana University and a master’s in business from Columbia University — Jellison began his corporate America career. That included management level roles at General Electric and Ingersoll-Rand, an industrial company.

He loved spending time with his wife, daughters and their families, often taking wonderful trips to national parks or spending time at their family lake house.

Then, it was at Roper where Jellison truly made his mark. The company is a diversified conglomerate with segments that include technology and software and medical and scientific imaging. The key to making it all work, and growing to nearly $5 billion in annual sales, Jellison told the Business Observer in a July interview, is to rely on individual business units — not a centralized corporate culture. “We hate centralized directives,” Jellison said, in a profile of Roper for the Business Observer’s Top 500 issue.

The flip side to decentralization is leaders across Roper are responsible for results at the company, where, using Socratic method principles, executives are commonly grilled for answers on performance. “Accountability is obvious here when you walk in the door,” Jellison said. “That’s an environment that really great performers thrive in and love it.”

Neil Hunn, named president and CEO after Jellison took a medical leave earlier this year, says Jellison’s Roper legacy is secure. “All of us at Roper are deeply saddened by the loss of our long-time leader and mentor,” Hunn says in a statement. “Brian worked tirelessly throughout his years with Roper to transform the company and position it for long-term success. His extraordinary leadership and passion for Roper will be missed by everyone who knew him.”