Brian J. Dunn

Age: 49

Roots: Moved to the Twin Cities from Fort Dix, N.J., when he was about 15

Family: Wife, Sue, and three sons: 9, 15, 16

First Best Buy job: 1985, as commissioned salesclerk

Young rebel: Unsuccessfully fought retailer's move to make sales staff noncommissioned

Rock-n-roll fashion: When hired, Dunn said he had "Flock of Seagull hair and wore a skinny leather tie."

Family ties: His mother, Ethel, put in two decades in Best Buy's accounting department

Through the ranks: Became store manager in 1989 and district manager a year later; promoted to senior vice president of retail sales in 2000; named president and chief operating officer in 2006.