Who Owns Fender?

Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender founded the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company in Fullerton, California, in 1946. A radio repairman rather than a musician, he designed instruments that could be mass produced and easily serviced, an approach that changed the music industry.

The company released the Telecaster, the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, in the early 1950s, followed by the Precision Bass in 1951, the first electric bass to achieve wide adoption. The Stratocaster arrived in 1954 and became the best-selling and most imitated electric guitar in history, used by players from Buddy Holly to Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton.

Leo Fender sold the company to CBS in 1965 for $13 million. The CBS era saw expanded production but a reputation for declining quality, and by the early 1980s the brand was struggling against Japanese competitors. In 1985 a group of Fender employees and investors, backed by Servco and led by Bill Schultz, bought the company from CBS and began rebuilding quality and the product line.

The restored company introduced the American Standard and Custom Shop lines, moved production to a new factory in Corona, California, and opened a plant in Ensenada, Mexico, for mid-priced models. It acquired or licensed a stable of related brands including Squier, Jackson, Charvel, EVH, and later PreSonus in 2021.

Leadership transitions marked recent years. Andy Mooney, recruited from Disney, became CEO in 2015 and drove growth through the pandemic-era guitar boom, digital learning via the Fender Play app, and direct-to-consumer sales. He retired in February 2026 and was succeeded by Bud Cole, who had spent more than a decade rebuilding Fender's Asia Pacific business.