William Ridley Wills, (September 19, 1871 – November 21, 1949) was a founder of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company in Nashville in 1902.

[2] The new company sold health and accident insurance policies to industrial workers, a large percentage of whom were African-American.

The company grew and moved into a large stone building in downtown Nashville where, in 1925, it launched radio station WSM which won international fame in creating the broadcast the "Grand Ole Opry".

[2] His father was a surgeon, Dr. William Thaddeus Wills, who served under the command of Nathan Bedford Forest in the Civil War.

[5] In 1930, after becoming successful in the insurance industry, Wills donated a fully-equipped 32 bed hospital to the City of Brownsville as a memorial to his father.

They were responsible for the "Grand Ole Opry" show featuring county music, taking advantage of a powerful clear-channel broadcast that reached much of the US.

[7] Wills built a three-story Georgian-style home on a ten acres (4.0 hectares) site in Nashville in 1931.