Jimmy Rane

Rane was born in 1946 in Abbeville, Alabama, where he grew up.⁠[1][2]

He graduated from Marion Military Institute in 1964 and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Auburn University in 1968.⁠[1]

In 1969 Rane entered Cumberland law school; while studying he worked at the law firm Baker and McDaniel, which offered him a position after graduation.⁠[3]

In 1970 Rane’s wife’s parents were killed in a traffic accident; their estate included a farm in Abbeville with an idle wood-treating plant. On the family accountant’s advice the family sold everything except the land and the small treating plant, then leased the 6.5 acres to Rane and sold him the equipment for $10,000.⁠[3][2]

To get the plant running, Rane’s father, Tony Rane, co-signed a $76,000 loan. In 1971 Rane worked at the plant by day and studied for the bar exam at night, borrowed $5,000 from a banker when money ran short, and passed the bar later that year.⁠[3]

In 1971 he received a JD from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. That year the wood-treating business had sales of $22,000; Rane and his brother later built the plant into Great Southern Wood Preserving.⁠[1][4]

Rane opened a law office in downtown Abbeville and ran the treating plant on the side.⁠[2]

From 1973 to 1977 he served as a Henry County judge while also running his law practice and the company. In 1976 the company opened a second plant in Mobile.⁠[2][3]

In 1984 Rane left for Harvard Business School, leaving behind $372,000 in checks with instructions on when to release them. While there he secured a $1 million line of credit, and the company’s finances turned around.⁠[3]

From 1986 he devoted himself full time to Great Southern Wood Preserving.⁠[3]

In 2000 Rane established the Jimmy Rane Foundation, of which he is president; it has awarded college scholarships to 680 students.⁠[2]

The foundation’s stated purpose is to provide college scholarships to students and to strengthen communities through education projects and grants.⁠[5]

In 2004 the company’s marketing department introduced “Yella Fella,” a cowboy persona played by Rane himself and drawn from his love of Western movies, for YellaWood television commercials.⁠[3][4]

In September 2025 Great Southern Wood Preserving announced that Mark Callender, its chief operating officer and a 34-year company veteran, would become president and CEO on October 1, 2025, taking over day-to-day leadership; Rane remained chairman of the board, focusing on board priorities and long-term growth.⁠[6][7]

Rane said Callender was “highly respected both in the industry and within our organization.”⁠[6]

Rane served as CEO for more than half a century. The company’s sales in fiscal 2025 were nearly $2.5 billion.⁠[4]

Great Southern Wood Preserving makes YellaWood pressure-treated pine products; with its subsidiaries it operates 38 locations in the United States and Canada and does business in 39 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, the European Union and the Mediterranean. Rane has also served as chairman, president and CEO of its parent, Great Southern Wood Holdings, Inc.⁠[2]

The YellaWood business has expanded beyond treatment facilities into custom packaging manufacturing, material import and export, building product distribution, a sister logistics company and a family-style restaurant.⁠[8]

Employees are paid based on company profits; Rane says this makes them partners rather than employees.⁠[3]

Rane is a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees and of the Alabama Academy of Honor, and is a member of the Alabama Bar Association and the American Bar Association.⁠[2]

He was inducted into the Alabama Independent School Hall of Fame (2009), the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (2018, as a Distinguished American Sportsman) and the Dothan Business Hall of Fame (2023), and into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame.⁠[1][2]

His other honors include Marion Military Institute Alumnus of the Year (2007), Alabama Broadcasters Association Citizen of the Year (2014) and an honorary doctor of laws from Troy University. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum gave him its Wrangler award; he was the second Alabamian to receive it.⁠[1][3]

As of November 4, 2026, ForbesForbesForbes is an American business media brand that began with Forbes magazine, founded by B.C. Forbes in 1917. It is known for rankings such as the Forbes 400, the World’s Billionaires list and 30 Under 30, and operates Forbes.com, ForbesLive events and licensed editions in 81 countries. Since 2014 a majority stake has been held by the Hong Kong investment group Integrated Whale Media; a 2021 plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange through a special purpose acquisition company was terminated in 2022. It is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.Open the full entry’s real-time estimate put Rane’s net worth at $1.7 billion, listing lumber (self-made) as the source of his wealth.⁠[4]

Great Southern Wood Preserving (YellaWood): Official website: https://www.yellawood.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8][2]

Jimmy Rane Foundation: Official website: https://www.jimmyranefoundation.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]