Eddie Stobart reportedly died aged 95 in November (Image: Getty)
The 95-year-old leaves behind three children (Image: Getty)
Eddie Pears Stobart, who founded the eponymous Stobart group in the 1940s, , aged 95-years-old.
The man behind the UK’s most famous haulage company, which began the trend of giving lorries female names like “Rosie” and “Maggie”, leaves behind a multi-million-pound fortune.
He was estimated to have a net worth of around £23 million in 2022, despite stepping back from a front-facing role in the family business.
The company that he founded in the 1940s after working for years as a farmer in , was handed over to his son Edward in 1973, and the next-of-kin is largely credited with turning the business into the household name it is today.
While the bulk of Eddie’s fortune might have been expected to go to his eldest son, tragically Edward passed away in 2011 at just 56-years-old after suffering from a heart attack.
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The vehicles are some of the most recognisable in the UK (Image: Getty)
The 95-year-old entrepreneur’s remaining family include daughter Anne and sons John and William, the latter of whom has taken control of the business in recent years after joining the family firm in his teens.
It is likely that Eddie’s sizable fortune will be divided among his children and grandchildren.
Before his untimely death, Edward had four adopted and two biological children and William also has two with ex-wife Helen Cleasby.
While the family has largely remained out of the headlines since Edward’s death, and little is known about Anne and John’s professional and personal lives, their joined legacy will live long in the country’s consciousness as one of Britain’s most recognisable haulage companies.
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It echoes Eddie’s own life – which was largely lived in a quiet Cumbrian community alongside wife Nora, while his sons took the reins of the business he had built the bedrock for.
Edward’s death was marked by a large-scale funeral procession in Carlisle, with a hearse flanked by the emblazoned trucks he helped make famous – and it’s likely that his father’s death will elicit a similar outpouring of public sympathy.
After launching with just eight trucks and 12 employees in 1976, Stobart’s fleet expanded to around 1,000 trucks and 2,000 employees by the turn of the century, with depots all around the country. It now has over 5,000 vehicles stationed across the UK.