Billionaire Boat Salesman: The Story of John Orin Edson and Bayliner Marine Corporation

When it comes to boats it’s really easy to make fun of brands like Bayliner, but if you go back to the origins of the company, you’ll find the story of a brand that was built on expert manufacturing and design prowess, with a true visionary at the helm who built an empire that eventually helped Brunswick Corporation become the marine powerhouse that it is today. John Orin Edson brought affordable boats to the masses and changed the marine industry forever. You can make fun of Bayliners, I do sometimes, but Edson was the one laughing all the way to the bank; amassing a fortune of well over one billion dollars. Not bad for a guy who started selling boat parts from an empty parking lot in Seattle.

Edson got his start by selling some used parts he had from his personal race boat, which led to him selling a few boats for friends. From there he realized there was a strong market for recreational boats, keep in mind this was the late fifties. He began acquiring unfinished wood boats, then painting them to customers specs, and selling them. Like many young entrepreneurs, Edson dropped out of school to keep going. Eventually, he acquired a Mercury dealer franchise, calling the company Advance Outboard Marine.

Edson liked outboards and fast boats, so it’s not surprising that he had a line of affordable performance boats called Cobra. Some were kind of cool looking.

The retail business worked but with his eye on improving boats based on customer feedback and getting bigger, he contracted with a local manufacturer to build boats for him, and thus his first boat company, Puget Plastics, was born in 1966. One could argue Edson was a better retailer than much of the competition at the time, now the turning point became the fact he was also a manufacturer. The magic was keeping it simple. Uniform colors, no options, one engine option and an absolute killer price; a trademark of Eson’s boat companies for the years to come. Edson created value by his manufacturing prowess, as well as reducing labor and parts costs, and knowing exactly what his customers wanted. At the time, everyone else was more or less building custom to order boats, Edson was hyper focused on simplicity and volume.

After much success, the company was incorporated as Bayliner officially in 1972. The rumor is he purchased the name Bayliner form a company in Tacoma Washington for $100. By that time, Edson had also started manufacturing trailers for his boats, cutting costs even more. Apparently, Edson was relentless in cost cutting and finding efficiencies. By keeping everything in house and becoming a vertical operation, Bayliner was well ahead of any competition from a business perspective. But the final move for the Edson era Bayliner was not only the biggest but the most controversial.

A lot of Bayliners shared windshields and other parts as part of Edson’s manufacturing efficiency effort.

In the early eighties, marine engine manufacturers were pushing sterndrives more and more. At the time, as the technology improved, the sterndrive was seen as a more elegant drive system, with a quiet four stroke engine compared to the loud and smoky two stroke outboards. Edson seemed to disagree, although I believe he embraced sterndrives for some boats, I think he saw a better economic offering with outboards in the lower horsepower range. With that, Edson made a big move.

In the early eighties, Chrysler was in big trouble. With massive losses and a complete restructuring in order, the company was bailed out by the government. Lee Iacocca, the CEO of Chrysler at the time, famously orchestrated the deal with congress. All non automotive assets were immediately on the block. Chrysler had a pretty big marine presence, making boats and outboards under the Chrysler brand for years. My dad was a Chrysler dealer, along with Mercury in the late seventies. Edson proceeded to purchase the Chrysler Marine division in Hartford CT, for just under $15 million. A hefty purchase at the time. Part of the controversy was the fact that according to a lawsuit filed, about 80-90% of the employees were to be retained in the deal. They were not.

The complete package. Bayliner offered a boat for an incredible price that you could drive off the lot. And they sold a lot.

According to records, the Labor Relations Board and the Unions involved had a grievance, and it was implied in the suit that Orin Edson and the executives at Bayliner negotiated in bad faith by reneging on the deal to keep the majority of the workforce. What transpired is not for me to comment on, but some creative business moves really pushed Bayliner into becoming not just a power player in marine but a significant manufacturing player in America. With 13 plants and a significant engine manufacturer in their stable.

The Force wouldn’t last, they weren’t the best engineered engines afterall.

The acquisition of Chrysler Marine was orchestrated by having Bayliner Marine Corporation buy the company for $14.8 million, while Edson and other executives created U.S Marine Corporation; that would go on to acquire the entity from Bayliner for $10 dollars. The lawsuit involving the labor practices desperately argued that Bayliner and U.S Marine Corporation were actually one the same; where the legal teams for Bayliner and U.S Marine argued vehemently that they weren’t. By selling the unit to U.S Marine on paper, I’m imagining there is a loss for tax purposes for Bayliner Marine Corportaion to realize, among some legal protections, as they proved in court.

The Bayliner Cobra continued for a while, with pleasure boats and a bass boat line.

Let’s get back to boats, the further manufacturing dominance of Bayliner Marine Corporation, with U.S Marine Corporation made them the largest most profitable boat company on the planet. The mid eighties saw new signature branding colors across the Bayliner line, with matching Force outboards, that were rebranded Chrysler engines. The same formula existed, no options, one engine but now Bayliner made everything you purchased. I’m pretty sure Edson would have gladly sold you a set of Bayliner ropes and bumpers, and was probably working on it next.

There was only one move left for Edson, and that was to sell the company. At the time, Brunswick Corporation was much more of an industrial conglomerate with business in recreation products, industrial products, as well as defense and aerospace than a marine manufacturer. But with the success of Mercury Marine, the larger strategy was to build out the marine side of the business. With that in mind, Brunswick made the acquisition of Bayliner Marine Corporation and its subsidiaries for $425 Million dollars.

“Bayliner is ''the largest and most profitable pleasure boat manufacturer in the world, earning highly in excess of 10 percent after-tax return on sales,'' said Fred J. Florjancic, Brunswick`s treasurer and vice president / finance. ''We will buy the company at a very attractive price of about 11 times earnings”.’ (Nov 04, 1986, Brunswick will buy Bayliner.)

A short month later, Brunswick acquired Ray Industries, Sea Ray boats, in a $350 million dollar deal. Sea Ray boats was doing about $400 million in sales, and second only to Bayliner in total sales with a higher end brand. That is a heck of a buying spree, and just like that, in 1986 Brunswick was officially the largest in the boat game with boats of all sizes and powered by Mercury or Force. Force didn’t last but that’s another story.

At least Edson had a distinct design language. I’m not sure he would approve.

Edson stayed on briefly as an advisor. Later he would buy a majority position in Westport Yachts, and applied his formula. At one point, Westport was the biggest yacht maker by volume, and like the shrewd guy he was, Edson sold it for a large sum of money. Edson’s net worth was around $1.3 billion. If you could summarize the story, Edson reimagined boat manufacturing, delivered incredible value, then sold at the peak. He played the game well. Bayliner’s may not be my type of boats but during the Edson days, he had some cool designs. And, he made the Bayliner Cobra line, which was a stylish looking sport boat with several models that look better than anything coming out of Bayliner today.

Orin passed away on August 27, 2019 at 87. Known as an adventurer, he was an accomplished pilot. Him and his wife were generous philanthropists. I don’t think we will see an individual make a bigger impact on the marine industry than John Orin Edson. He was the ultimate boat salesman.

Sources:

George Sullivan, Bayliner Marine head of PR, 1972-1990. Obituary (Trade Only Magazine)

Chicago Tribune: Sallie Gaines, Nov 04, 1986 “Brunswick will buy Bayliner.”

New York Times, Sep. 3, 1983: CHRYSLER AND UNION SEEK EARLY LABOR SETTLEMENT

New York Times, Nov. 29, 1986. COMPANY NEWS; Brunswick To Acquire Ray

Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, Volume 293, FEBRUARY 28 , 1989

(Lead photo credit to legacy.com, family archive)