Business Leader, Advocate for Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Mike Thompson is president and CEO of Fairway Investments, LLC, a real estate investment firm he founded in 1991. Boasting a portfolio that includes 125 properties in 10 southern states, Fairway manages millions of square feet of retail, office, multi-family, hospitality, and industrial property, and employs 27 people. Fairway has redeveloped many locations including Huntersville, North Carolina, Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama and more recently, the company has developed property in Palm Beach, Florida; Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; and Suffolk, Virginia.
A 1977 graduate of The University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in general business, Thompson began his career at his father’s business, Thompson Tractor Co., Inc., the Caterpillar dealer in North Alabama. He held numerous jobs until 1986, when he became president and CEO. Under his leadership, employment grew from 500 to 1,300, revenue increased, and the company opened 13 new locations. The company also expanded into new markets, with Thompson purchasing the Caterpillar dealer in South Alabama and Northwest Florida in April 1987 and hiring 188 new employees. The company created two divisions in 1989: Thompson Power Systems and Thompson Lift Truck Company. Thompson Tractor opened the CAT rental store in 1999. He held the title of CEO for 33 years until 2019 when he became chairman of the board.
In 1986, Thompson facilitated the sale of six large propulsion engines to a Russian fishing company, which led to Caterpillar offering him a sales franchise in Russia. Thompson purchased the Russian-registered company from Caterpillar and named it Tiger Machinery in 1999. Under his leadership, the company grew in employment and revenue, built several geothermal power plants on the Kuril Islands and added four branch locations in Russia/Far East, among other accomplishments. Tiger Machinery provided prime power to the largest oil and gas drill in the world, owned by Exxon on Sakhalin Island. Thompson sold the business in 2015.
Thompson is active in philanthropy and community affairs, including leadership of the Coalition of Regional Transportation, a spin-off association of the Birmingham Business Alliance with a mission to improve the quality of life of central Alabamians by advocating for the completion of the Northern Beltline. He also served on the board of directors for the Birmingham Zoo for ten years, leading the capital campaign for the Children’s Petting Zoo, and served two terms on the Mountain Brook Board of Education. He served 11 years on the board of the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital, with four of those years as chairman of the hospital. He is active on the board of Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation. He has also served 41 years on the Shoal Creek Board of Governors, being president for six years and chairing or co-chairing five major golf tournaments. He helped lead The University of Alabama’s 1992-1997 capital campaign and chaired the Business Council of Alabama in 2003 and 2004. Finally, he serves as president of the Thompson Family Foundation, which serves 250 charities per year and has contributed over $20,000,000 to state-wide charities since its founding in 1999. He is a member of The University of Alabama’s President Cabinet.
Thompson and his wife, Genie, have three daughters: Lucy (Jacob), Maxwell (Bradley), and Annie (Connor). Lucy and Jacob have two daughters, Hallsey and Mamie. Annie and Connor have two sons, Thompson and Brewster.
