During his more than 35 years at JVC America, Harry Elias not only put the company on the map in the U.S. but has become an icon in the consumer electronics industry. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Elias worked as a salesman for Vim's electronics store for 10 years. In 1967, he joined JVC as a salesman and, working his way through several management and executive positions, rose to executive VP in 1990 and COO in 1995, one of the few Americans to reach such a high executive status with a Japanese company. He headed JVC until his retirement in March 2003, then served as Honorable Chairman until December 2004. Elias was not only the face of JVC, but also served as chairman of the Video Division of CEA and currently serves on CEA's Board of Directors.