10 Things You Didn’t Know about Aflac CEO Dan Amos

Dan Amos is the current head of Aflac, which most people will recognize because of the famous Aflac Duck commercials. Said individual has been in charge of the corporation for close to three decades, meaning that he has played a very important role in turning it into what it is in the present time. For proof, look no further than the fact that he was the one who gave the go-ahead on the Aflac Duck, which is one of numerous examples of Amos making choices that have turned out very well for Aflac as a whole. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Dan Amos:

1. Daniel Is a Name that Incorporates “El”

Dan is short for Daniel, which in turn, is one of the numerous Hebrew names that include “El.” In modern times, most people interpret El as a reference to God, as shown by how Daniel means “God Is My Judge.” However, it is interesting to note that El was once the name of the supreme god in the ancient religions of the Levant, whose children were called the Elohim meaning “Children of El.”

2. Amos Means “Burden”

Amos is the name of a minor Biblical prophet who spoke out against the growing gap between the very rich and the very poor. Generally speaking, his name is believed to mean something along the lines of “Burden.”

3. Born in Pensacola, FL

In August of 1951, Amos was born in a place called Pensacola, which is the westernmost of the cities that can be found in the Florida Panhandle region. Primarily, it is famous for being a seaport that is protected from storms by a barrier island. However, Pensacola is sometimes called the City of Five Flags because it has been ruled over by five different governments over the course of its existence.

4. Son of the Co-Founder

Speaking of which, Amos was born the son of Paul Amos. For those who are unfamiliar with Aflac, this means that he was born the son of one of the corporation’s co-founders, meaning that in a sense, he is running the business that his family helped to start up.

5. Became a Salesperson

In school, Amos studied risk management, which makes sense for someone who wants to become involved in the insurance sector. However, when he entered the insurance sector, he started out as an insurance salesperson. With that said, he was pretty good at this particular task, seeing as how he winded up becoming Aflac’s top insurance salesperson.

6. Served as Both President and COO Before Becoming CEO

Before becoming CEO, Amos served in other senior leadership positions as well. One example was his position as President, while another example was his position as COO, which stands for Chief Operating Officer. Both positions tend to be very high on the corporate hierarchy because of their wide-ranging responsibilities.

7. Has a Sizable Presence in Japan

As strange as it sounds, Aflac has a huge presence in Japan of all places. To be exact, Aflac is the single biggest life insurer in the whole of Japan when measured on the basis of life insurance policies that are in force.

8. Has Overseen Huge Increase in Revenues

Over the course of his tenure as the CEO of Aflac, Amos has overseen a huge increase in its revenues. For instance, its revenues were $2.7 billion in 1990, which was when Amos became CEO. Now, Aflac has an annual revenue of more than $20 billion.

9. Green-Lit the Aflac Duck Marketing Campaign

Aflac is a name that is familiar to a lot of U.S. consumers. This is because of the Aflac Duck marketing campaign, which raised the corporation’s national name recognition from about 10 percent to about 90 percent. Amos was the one who green-lit the marketing campaign, which was proposed by a NYC advertising agency.

10. Respected Figure in the Business World

On the whole, Amos is well-respected in the business world. This can be seen in how Fortune has often named Aflac as one of the most admired companies in the United States. Likewise, this can be seen in how Amos has often been named as one of the United States’s best CEOs by Institutional Investor.