But three and a half years after he was stricken by lymphoma and stepped down as CEO, Ed Crutchfield is easing into a faster lane. The cancer is in remission, and Crutchfield is picking up his postretirement pace as a private equity investor focusing on Internet technology. “I’m co-investing with my 35-year-old son, Elliott,” reports Crutchfield, 62. “He’s the brains, and I’m the experienced manager-adviser.”
In late July the pair closed a $3 million funding of Lurhq Corp., a Myrtle Beach, South Carolinabased provider of information security services to some 400 corporate clients -- a booming business, especially since the recent rash of Internet virus attacks. Also in the portfolio: Mobile Highway, a three-year-old company in the Crutchfields’ hometown of Charlotte that has developed a system that allows housing in- spectors to file their reports via wireless data networks. Says the senior Crutchfield, “Many people think the Internet is old news, but I doubt that we’re more than 15 percent of the way toward Web-enabling our corporations and governments, and that’s a sweet spot for us.” The ex-banker adds that he doesn’t view himself as a typical venture capitalist: “We don’t gamble on ten investments hoping for two home runs. We want good, sustainable businesses that will go on for years.”
He’s toned down the old go-go style -- in 17 years running what was then First Union Corp., Crutchfield made more than 80 acquisitions and boosted assets from $5 billion to $253 billion -- and he finds it refreshing to roll up his sleeves at companies that have 50 or fewer employees. “My involvement a couple of days a month can be a big help to a young CEO who may not have ever run anything before,” he says.
Crutchfield has pretty much cut his ties with Wachovia. “When it came time to move on, it was best to take my shadow with me,” he says. “But I’m crazy about the CEO” -- his handpicked successor, Ken Thompson -- “and I’m happy as an investor.” The share price is up 30 percent, to about $43, since Thompson took the helm.
