Kiam, Victor Kermit, II

▪ 2002

      American businessman (b. Dec. 7, 1926, New Orleans, La.—d. May 27, 2001, Stamford, Conn.), was the innovative owner of Remington Products, a company that specialized in selling electric shavers; he became widely known after appearing in a series of television advertisements in which he proclaimed, “I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company.” After receiving a master's of business administration degree from Harvard University, Kiam worked from 1951 to 1955 in the sales and marketing divisions of Lever Bros., maker of Pepsodent toothpaste, among other products. He was an executive at Playtex for the following 13 years before buying his first company, watchmaker Wells-Benrus, in 1968. He acquired a failing Remington from the Sperry Rand Corp. in 1979 and made the company profitable within a year, in part through his unique approach to advertising. Kiam was the majority owner of the New England Patriots of the National Football League from 1988 to 1992. He published two popular autobiographical books on succeeding in business, Going for It! (1986) and Keep Going for It! (1988).

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