He gets to watch first-hand the joy that comes from coloring the world through the vehicles everyone drives.

CEO Charles W. Shaver is the man behind Axalta Coating Systems, the $4.1 billion Glen Mills company that “makes the paint on nearly every car on the market — new and used,” according to a Philadelphia Inquirer interview with Jane Von Bergen.

Beyond seeing people’s personalities shine through their choice of car color, Shaver’s “joy comes from the fact that we’re a growing enterprise,” he said. “So I think about our 13,000 employees, and I see their families doing better. I see all the things they’re able to do by the things we do.

“By the way, I’ve been fortunate enough in my life that I don’t do this for the money anymore. I don’t. If it were for the money, I would have been done 10 years ago, but it is fun watching Axalta grow.”

And grow it has. Axalta’s history goes all the way back to DuPont’s carriage coatings in 1866.

As for the future, Shaver looks to the next generation.

“Humans are creative, and it all works out,” he said. “We have to drive students toward STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) — not scientists but more people who understand the digital economy and how to create value in that economy.”

Read more about Shaver, Axalta’s Colors of the Year, and the challenges of foreign currency depreciation in the Philadelphia Inquirer here, and check out previous coverage of the company on DELCO Today here.