Markel maintains 61 offices in 16 countries. The insurance operations employ approximately 5,000 employees (with another 15,900 employees at Markel Ventures companies) and underwrite approximately $9.8 billion in gross premiums annually.
Since December 1986, when Markel became a publicly traded company, share price has increased from $8.33 per share (the closing price on the first day of trading) to $1,317.00 (the closing price on December 31, 2022).
Tony began his career with the Markel organization in 1964 upon graduation from the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce with a major in Economics. He was promoted to Vice President in 1970 and assumed responsibility for the management of Markel’s wholesale brokerage operation in 1975. Tony was named Executive Vice President of Markel Corporation in 1977 and named President and Chief Operating Officer of Markel Corporation in March 1992. In January of 2009, he was named Vice Chairman of Markel Corporation.
He was a member of the Board of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Organization (NAPSLO now WSIA) from 1978 to 1983, serving as its President in the last year. He also served on the Board of the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII now the PCI) from 1988 to 1993, serving as Chairman of the Surplus Lines Committee in 1993. In 2004, he was honored as a recipient of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2005, Tony was awarded the Charles A. McAlear Award by NAPSLO for long and outstanding service to the Surplus Lines Industry. In 2006, Tony was awarded the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award for his notable contributions to the insurance industry and his community and in 2011 was awarded the Vince Donahue Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA). In May 2014, Tony was conducted as a laureate into the Junior Achievement Richmond Business Hall of Fame recognizing his success and leadership in the insurance industry and community. In 2016, he was named as one of the thirty most influential business leaders in Richmond over the last 30 years by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Frank N. Cowan Cup of Hope by the National MS Society | Virginia-West Virginia Chapter. In January 2017, Tony received the “2016 Insurance Leader of the Year” Award by St. John’s University’s School of Risk Management, part of the Peter J. Tobin College of Business. In September 2017, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award by Reactions Magazine.
Although semi-retired, he stays active as a Director of the Company and accepts a variety of special assignments from Markel’s current leadership.
Continuing his family’s history of philanthropy, Tony’s noteworthy charitable causes have included Faison School for Autism; Alzheimer’s Association; University of Virginia; American Heart Association; Cullather Brain Tumor & Quality of Life Center; Goochland Family Services; Special Olympics of Virginia; and, United Way of Greater Richmond Alexis de Tocqueville Society. In addition, he was the National Chairman of the $1 Billion Centennial Power of Hope Campaign for City of Hope, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, California, which successfully reached its goal in January 2014. His current projects include the Markel-Friedman Foundation for Ovarian/Peritoneal Cancer Research (at City of Hope); the Richmond SPCA’s full-service veterinarian clinic (named for his departed wife); and, Operation Healing Forces, an initiative started by his brother, Gary, that provides therapeutic retreats for wounded Special Operation Forces and their spouses. Presently, he serves as a member of the three-person steering committee in the current Naples Community Hospital’s $350 million campaign.
He has two daughters, Diana Phelan of Atlanta, Georgia, and Melinda Markel, of Richmond, Virginia, and two grandchildren, Ryan Phelan and Regan Phelan. He now resides in Naples, Florida and Richmond, Virginia with his wife, Betsy Markel.
