Gary HooverSpeaker and Booking Agent Information

In 1982, Hoover finally took the plunge into entrepreneurship by founding BOOKSTOP, Inc. in Austin, Texas, with $350,000 in capital raised from 35 private investors. Together with his management team, Hoover built BOOKSTOP, the nation’s first superstore book chain providing a variety of books at discounted prices. BOOKSTOP grew into the fourth largest book retailer. In 1989, Barnes & Noble purchased the company for $41.5 million in cash, and BOOKSTOP became a cornerstone of Barnes & Noble superstores. That division exceeded approximately $2.5 billion in sales in 1998—just 16 years after the founding of BOOKSTOP.

A perennial entrepreneur, Hoover’s next venture was the founding of Reference Press, publisher of the best-selling annual reference guides to big companies, Hoover’s Handbooks. Hoover’s Handbooks are found in libraries throughout the world. More recognizable to business executives is Hoover’s On-line and Hoovers.com electronic information services, which are accessed more than eight million times a month, making the company a world leader in the electronic distribution of corporate information. In 1996, the Reference Press was renamed Hoover’s Inc. Shareholders in Hoover’s, Inc. include Time Warner, Media General and Infoseek. In early 1992, Gary Hoover stepped down from day-to-day operations at Hoover’s, Inc. to focus on exploring new business opportunities.

Gary E. Hoover now shares his knowledge and vision with others and has become a renowned speaker, winning over audiences in both the United States and Europe. In addition to radio and newspaper interviews, Hoover has appeared on CNN, in the Wall Street Journal, and in Newsweek magazine.