Specialty-finance entrepreneur Brian Williams to be enshrined in Alumni Hall of Fame

Brian Williams, the founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Crown Asset Management and a 1997 graduate of Florida State University, will be enshrined during an Oct. 29 ceremony at the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence.

Brian K. Williams, a distinguished specialty-finance entrepreneur and executive who proudly worked his way through college nearly three decades ago, has earned a place in the Herbert Wertheim College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame at Florida State University.

Williams, who attained a bachelor’s degree in finance from the college in 1997, will be enshrined during an Oct. 29 ceremony at the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence in Tallahassee.

The inductions of Williams and another distinguished business leader – real estate developer William C. “Bill” Lloyd of Bradenton, Fla. – will increase the Alumni Hall of Fame membership to 74.

Criteria for selection include a degree from the Wertheim College; an exceptional career background that includes significant professional acclaim; significant service to the college and university; and community involvement and recognition. 

Williams is the founder and CEO of Crown Asset Management (CAM), which purchases distressed consumer receivables mostly from large national creditors and outsources the purchased accounts to CAM’s proprietary network of collection agencies and law firms for recovery.  These agencies and firms are selected only after they complete a rigorous audit and compliance onboarding process, followed by consistent oversight to ensure compliance across all aspects of the recovery process.  

Since 2002, Williams has been involved in the purchase and sale of more than $15 billion in receivables.

“I joke that nobody grows up and says, ‘I want to go into the debt-buying business,’” Williams said. “But the business has allowed me to utilize what I learned at Florida State and gave me the ability to unlock the entrepreneurial spirit that I always had.”

That includes his penchant for grit. Williams worked his way through college at Bill’s Bookstore and as a valet at the Governor’s Club. He also completed an unpaid internship with Merrill Lynch throughout his junior and senior years.

After graduating from FSU, Williams worked briefly for Merrill Lynch, now Merrill, then moved to Atlanta and became a banking and investment advisor with First Union National Bank, now part of Wells Fargo. That led to a role as a consultant for a small debt-buying business, where he spent about four years gaining industry knowledge. Then, at age 28, he founded Crown Asset Management, which celebrated its 22nd anniversary this year.

“I always thought I'd like to work for myself in some capacity,” Williams said. “But I'm quick to say that being self-employed is not for the faint of heart. It ebbs and flows, with great times and tough times.”

The Wertheim College has seen no ebb in involvement and support from Williams and his wife, Cortney, a 1998 graduate of the college who also majored in finance and worked her way through school. This past spring, Brian and Cortney became inaugural members of the college’s IMPACT Society, which recognizes and celebrates its predominant donors.

The recognition follows a steady stream of philanthropic support from the Williamses, including $500,000 in 2024 to strengthen their Williams Family Endowed Student Success Fund, which provides crucial travel and professional development support for students majoring in finance. 

The couple’s previous gifts include a $1 million bequest in 2018 to establish the Brian and Cortney Williams Family Endowment and another $1 million investment in 2020 to create the Williams Family Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, the Williams Family Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund and the Williams Family Endowed Student Success Fund. The latter gift included $250,000 to establish the Williams Family Classroom in the new Wertheim Center.  

“We understand firsthand the grind a student undergoes working through school,” Brian Williams said. “And it brings us satisfaction that we’re able to, through our financial support, make a difference in young people’s lives.”

He said he and his wife receive letters from students telling them how the couple’s funding of scholarships and other programs has “impacted their lives and how they would not have had the opportunity to, for example, take certain courses or travel to a city for (professional) development purposes.”

Born in Tallahassee and raised in Ocala, where he met his wife, Williams grew up a passionate Seminoles supporter, inspired by the football program’s rise to national prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s under Coach Bobby Bowden. He previously served on the Seminole Boosters Board of Directors and continues to serve on the Herbert Wertheim College of Business Board of Governors and the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees.

“As I've had more success with the business, it has allowed us to give back not just our time and service, but also financially,” Williams said.

That includes service to his Atlanta-area community and beyond. Through his company, Williams supports causes such as the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, the Boys & Girls Clubs, JDRF Breakthrough T1D, Make-A-Wish America, the Wounded Warrior Project and Warrick Dunn Charities.

His alma mater remains at the top of his personal support list. He and Cortney have passed on their FSU enthusiasm to their children: Their son, Rush, is an FSU rising junior majoring in finance, like his parents. Their daughter, Reagan, started classes at the university during the summer and plans to major in marketing, potentially making all four family members Wertheim College graduates.

“I like to say we’re four-for-four,” Williams said. “We’re a Florida State family.”

-- Pete Reinwald