Horizon Hobby history

In 1986, Rick’s brother, Larry Stephens, left a 12-year career in banking to join the Horizon leadership team.

With this goal in mind, Horizon Hobby purchased Hobby Dynamics in 1992 and secured the exclusive distribution rights to brands such as JR radios and Saito engines, among others.

In 2000, horizon acquired losi which later became losi/losi sport for recreational and bashing cars alongside TLR (team losi racing) for the companies racing focused brand.

With this expertise now a part of its product development team, Horizon Hobby was able to introduce the Losi® Mini-T in 2003.

In 2004 horizon hobby founded Spektrum RC which proved to be one of the biggest game changers in the RC industry.

That all changed in 2005 with the introduction of the DSM2® frequency protocol that could be used in any size or type of RC model.

Named CEO in 2008, Joe Ambrose championed Horizon Hobby with a clear vision for the company.

On December 9, 2013, Horizon announced that the company was being bought by a group of investors led by Horizon's CEO, Joe Ambrose (who sadly, recently passed away). The group includes Minneapolis-based Mill City Capital L.P. and Champaign-based Armory Capital LLC founded by Jacob Ambrose.

Throughout 2018, he led the efforts to purchase industry stalwart Hobbico.

Just as the transition to the new status quo was settling, Horizon was dealt a devastating blow as Joe Ambrose unexpectedly passed away in early 2019.