A simple flip of the coin in Pensacola, Fla., landed Charles W. Lamar Sr. the opportunity of a lifetime. In 1908, when Mr. Lamar and J.M. Coe decided to dissolve their three-year partnership, a coin toss was used to divide their assets: the Pensacola Opera House and the Pensacola Advertising Company, the small poster company created to promote the Opera House. Mr. Lamar lost the toss and was left with the less-lucrative poster company, which he renamed Lamar Outdoor Advertising Company.

Over the course of the next century, Mr. Lamar and his descendants built Lamar Advertising from a small sign company on the Gulf Coast into one of the largest providers of out-of-home advertising in the nation. Through generations of commitment, integrity and innovation, Lamar has changed the nation's landscape while still maintaining the character of a family business.

In 1996, Lamar made its first public offering of stock, which began trading on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol LAMR. In 1999, after completing its $1.6 billion acquisition of Chancellor Media, Lamar became the nation's largest outdoor advertising company, measured by number of displays.

Current chief executive officer Sean Reilly, the great grandson of Charles Lamar Sr., was appointed to succeed his brother Kevin Reilly Jr. in 2011. Together Sean and Kevin, who remains president and chairman of the board of directors, oversee a company that generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Its 3,000 dedicated employees are spread among more than 150 offices in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico - including a 25-person office in Pensacola, where it all began more than 100 years ago.