PRI… As In “Pride”

(Editor’s Note:  It has been seven months ago now, but it still seems like yesterday.  As we close in on the end of the year and look ahead to 2011, it is worth reflecting proudly on what happened that magical Spring day, April 1… The Re-Founding of Primerica.)

NEW YORK – “This is one of those days,” Primerica Co-CEO John Addison said, “when you look back and say, ‘you’re not going to have many of these.  This was a good day.’  This is special.”

John was en route to the NYSE where he had started the day with the company’s IPO.  After the opening bell, John was interviewed live on television by everybody from CNBC to Fox Business News to Bloomberg.  Now he was headed back to Wall Street to ring the closing bell with Co-CEO Rick Williams and the company’s top executives and field leaders.

From Day One, the IPO had created a buzz on Wall Street not often seen in these turbulent times.  Even the most stoic of traders on the NYSE floor were caught up in the excitement of the day, referring to it as “old school.”  Letter after letter rolled in from different corners of the financial services world, all congratulating the company on its incredible achievement.  Jim Cramer later called it “the best performing IPO of the year” on Mad Money and the success of the IPO received international press coverage.

For John and Rick, it was the culmination of a nearly four-year journey, one that defied all odds – especially during such a challenging economic climate.  “It was a long and winding road,” John said, “but we had a goal.  We had a mission.”

Primerica has long been called “a company of destiny,” forged from a legacy of greatness, built on the rock solid foundation of doing what’s right for the consumer.  There was only one thing missing from the equation:  freedom.

“You don’t know what this means,” John later told the capacity crowd at the world famous Waldorf Astoria Grand Ballroom, where the meeting was broadcast live to the entire company and attended by more than 1,000 Primerica reps from around the U.S. and Canada.  “I’ve never been prouder.  Today, we rang the bell of freedom.  It’s a new day, it’s a new moment.  It’s morning in Primerica.

“Freedom lives here.”

[slidepress gallery=’ipo’]

To see more pictures from Primerica’s IPO day, visit Flickr.