Longtime F.C. Tucker president retiring

Fred C. Tucker III, the longtime president of F.C. Tucker Co. Inc., announced Tuesday he is retiring from the Indianapolis real estate firm and handing leadership duties to business partner H. James Litten.

Tucker, 63, is selling his ownership interest to Litten, who will become the company’s sole owner when Tucker officially retires April 1.

Founded in 1918, F.C. Tucker is the largest residential real estate firm in the city in terms of the total value of homes sold. The transition will mark the first time the 92-year-old company has been led by someone other than a Tucker.

Litten, 63, is president of the company’s residential real estate services division and will continue to manage those responsibilities, as well as assume leadership of F.C. Tucker’s eight additional businesses. They include title, insurance, mortgage and franchising services.

Tucker has been president of the company since 1986, when he and Litten, along with David Goodrich, former CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, bought the family-owned company from Tucker’s father, Bud Tucker, and his partners. Fred Tucker, the third generation of Tuckers to run the company, has been with the firm 33 years.

“Jim and I have grown the company to become the dominate real estate company in Indiana, and with this long-planned succession strategy, Jim Litten will provide the passion, drive and business intellect needed to carry F.C. Tucker Co. to the next level,” Tucker said in a prepared statement.

Under the pair’s leadership, F.C. Tucker has seen its home sales grow from $300 million in 1986 to $2.2 billion last year, largely through expansion and by adding real estate services.

The company oversees 45 sales offices and more than 1,500 real estate agents and employees throughout Indiana and in portions of Kentucky.

Litten, who has been with the company since 1972, said he plans to continue expanding the firm’s reach in Indiana and Kentucky.

“Fred has been my trusted business partner and friend for 40 years,” Litten said in a prepared statement. “I’ll miss him greatly, but certainly want to congratulate Fred as he begins enjoying the fruits of many years of hard work.”