Obituary: Former Hendrick CEO Edward Brown III dies at 74

Edward Brown III, a former banking executive who spent the last decade of his career leading Hendrick Automotive Group as CEO, died April 3 at age 74.

Brown had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to an obituary published by the Charlotte Observer.

Brown joined Hendrick Automotive, one of the country’s largest dealership groups, in 2010 as its CFO, and company officials said at that time that he would become CEO in January 2011. Brown had retired six years earlier from a long career as an executive at Bank of America and banks it had acquired.

Rick Hendrick, chairman of the dealership group, said at the time of Brown’s appointment that he was chosen for his financial management experience and community involvement. Brown replaced Jim Huzl as CEO in 2011. He retired from Hendrick at the end of 2019, and Rick Hendrick assumed CEO duties for the group at that time.

Brown’s obituary named Rick Hendrick as one of six mentors in the former executive’s life who stood out. “While serving under Rick Hendrick, he taught me about the joy of giving back to others,” Brown said, according to the obituary. Hendrick Automotive did not immediately respond to requests from Automotive News for comment on Brown’s death.

Hendrick, of Charlotte, N.C., ranks No. 7 on Automotive News’ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 89,974 new vehicles in 2022.