Bill Franke
William Augustus Franke is an airline investor and a co-founder and Managing Partner of Indigo Partners LLC, a private equity fund focused in air transportation. He has been the President at Franke and Company, Inc. since 1987. Bill has been Chairman of Wizz Air since 2004, and serves as Chairman of Frontier Airlines. He also serves as the President and Chairman of Bristol Group SA.Education and early career
He graduated from Stanford University with a BA in History in 1959 and a LLB in Law in 1961. In his early career he was the CEO of a Fortune 500 forest products company, Southwest Forest Industries and Chairman of Circle K, which he restructured through bankruptcy. He was Chairman and CEO of America West Airlines from 1993 to 2001, Chairman of Singapore-based Tiger Airways from 2004 to 2009, and Chairman of Spirit Airlines from July 2006 to August 2013.Philanthropy
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University in 2008, where following a $25 million donation, The W.A. Franke College of Business was named after him. In 2016 he made a donation of $24 million to the University of Montana. He has also donated to his alma mater Stanford Law School to create The W. A. Franke Professorship in Law and Business.
