He joined Circuit City in 1966 as vice president of legal affairs and then was CEO from 1972 to 1986.
Circuit City was profiled as one of the eleven companies in Jim Collins' 2001 book Good to Great.
Since retiring from Circuit City, Wurtzel has split his time between commercial and non-profit activities.
As a member of Virginia's State Board of Education, he actively participated in the formulation and adoption of the current Standards of Learning program.
Currently, Wurtzel is a trustee of The Phillips Collection, where he has been active in developing its expansion and investment plans; the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group that works to protect the Bay; the Brady Campaign, a gun violence prevention organization, and his alma mater Oberlin College.