By the next two decades, the company had penetrated into markets of Japan, Latin America, Thailand, China, Africa, and India. Richard Marvin DeVos Sr.[1] (March 4, 1926 September 6, 2018) was an American billionaire businessman, co-founder of Amway with Jay Van Andel (company restructured as Alticor in 2000), and owner of the Orlando Magic basketball team. campaign committee, which sponsored a ballot-initiative that would have amended the Michigan constitution to allow vouchers and tuition tax credits for private K-12 education. Ahead of the 1980 election, radio host Paul Harvey, whose show was sponsored by Amway for many years, floated Rich DeVos as a potential candidate for president. They now have a compound consisting of two houses, plus another house elsewhere in Windsor, where they spend several weeks a year. Richard DeVos parents were poor immigrants from the Netherlands. ", He also called for an increase in "funding for secondary and higher education," for a streamlined health-care system "that utilizes technology to reduce hospital errors by making medical records more efficient," and for " strong anti-crime measures, specifically against child predators." "ElectraTherm provides the core technology, Pro Services provides the installation ability and the knowledge of the customers' needs and Windquest then provides both financing and high-level business acumen."[17]. DeVos and her husband founded it in 1989. "[164] DeVos believes that opening up the education market will offer parents increased choice, a view that critics call a drive to privatize the American public education system. [165] According to The New York Times, it "is hard to find anyone more passionate about the idea of steering public dollars away from traditional public schools than Betsy DeVos". When the Children's Scholarship Fund provided $7.5 million to the Education Freedom Fund, the DeVos matched the grant, and their foundation covers all of the administrative costs of the organization. "It's this kind of planning, a continual reinvention with clear goals," wrote a CNN journalist, "that has been lacking in Detroit. Richard M. DeVos, the Amway Corporation co-founder who built and used one of the 20th century's great personal fortunes to bolster the Republican Party, restore civic vitality to . One of his daughters-in . [21], An article published on August 3, 2005, quoted DeVos as saying that the main issue for Michigan voters was the state's economy. Scarlet Envy depicted DeVos as "silly" and "martini-swilling. In all, she has disclosed that her share of these outside holdingswhich do not include Amway or the Magicare worth at least $335 million. In 2012, Forbes magazine listed him as the 60th wealthiest person in the United States, and the 205th . Also Known As: Richard Marvin DeVos Sr. Died At Age: 92 Family: Spouse/Ex-: Helen Van Wesep (m. 1953) father: Simon Cornelius DeVos mother: Ethel Ruth DeVos children: Cheri, Dan, Dick, Doug Born Country: United States Billionaires CEOs Died on: September 6, 2018 place of death: Ada Township, Michigan, United States Notable Alumni: Calvin University [138] Hours after her resignation, Senator Elizabeth Warren later called her the worst Secretary of Education on Twitter, saying she never done anything to help students, and saying she would rather quit than invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. [157] The DeVoses' gift, part of which would be spent on arts groups in Michigan that had been hit hard by the recession, was the largest private donation in the Kennedy Center's history. [161] DeVos is a former member of the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd),[162] an education think tank founded by Jeb Bush, the chairman since 2015 of which has been former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and which has received donations from Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Eli Broad. She grew up in Holland, Michigan, the eldest of four children born to Elsa (Zwiep) Prince (later, Broekhuizen) and Edgar Prince, a billionaire industrialist. Years later, DeVos said: "I learned I needed to be better at expressing my opinions more directly and forcefully.My mother taught me to be respectful and polite, but sometimes I took that advice too far. Amway pays for the naming rights to Amway Center. It sort of has to do with being poor by choice.). They donated the award money to Michigans local organizations that were working towards helping people. [27] She graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business economics in 1979. In a section of River North where most of the homes are ornate neo-classical mansions, a new one nearing completion stands out for its hard-edged contemporary look. Marriott Hotel, the renovation of the Civic Theater (renamed the Meijer Majestic Theater), a new art museum, and a new civic gardens and sculpture park, two new satellite campuses for Grand Valley State University, and a new institute for biomedical research. DeVos and his wife became co-chairs of the Education Freedom Fund in 1993. He is still considered to be the wealthiest man to run for statewide office in Michigan's history. The stone-clad home in the center of the photo is being built on Superior Street. ", During her first visit to a public university on April 6, 2017, DeVos was confronted by around 30 protestors. She was touring an area designed to resemble a hospital ward at Florida International University. Betsy, the daughter of auto parts magnate Edgar Prince and sister of Blackwater founder Erik Prince, owes the vast majority of her fortune to her marriage to Dick DeVos. [4], DeVos believes education in the United States should encourage the proliferation of charter schools and open up private schools to more students via financial assistance programs, often called vouchers. Magna Bloc Therapeutic Magnets relieve my pain, the billionaire boasted while holding the product on the cover of the May 1999 issue of Amagram, Amways in-house magazine. The Fund provides private scholarships to low-income families in Michigan with wishes to attend schools of their choice. Asked what she could do about that, she said, "Whatever can be done will be done, and it will be done swiftly and surely. He is a businessman and a politician by profession. "I still remember when it was in the basement of our home when I was growing up," he later said. Had his confirmation vote been earlier than hers, he would have been forced to resign from the Senate, therefore losing a vital vote for the Republicans on the confirmation. "There are aviators all over this community," Dick DeVos told a reporter. DeVos was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Helen June (Van Wesep) and Richard Marvin DeVos. Get the best business coverage in Chicago, from breaking news to razor-sharp analysis, in print and online. [179], Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review argued that Harris overstates the failure of charter schools in Detroit. [15], He sat on the board of trustees of Northwood University and has been president of the Council for National Policy. [105][106], On September 12, 2018, DeVos lost the lawsuit brought by 19 states and the District of Columbia, which accused the Department of Education of improperly delaying implementation of regulations protecting student loan borrowers from predatory practices. [62] The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Michigan Democratic Party opposed DeVos's nomination. A huckster as president? The company was at number 42 on the Forbes 2018 list of United States largest privately owned companies and was the number one company on the 2018 list of Direct Selling News Global 100. After conducting "a feasibility and economic-impact analysis," DeVos worked with two local bankers to set the plan in motion. Dick and Betsy were early investors in home goods retailer At Home and own as much as $5 million worth of stock in Elon Musks privately held SpaceX. [32], MSNBC reported in December 2012 that the Mackinac Public Policy Center, which had played a major role in the passage of right-to-work in Michigan, was funded mainly by the Charles G. Koch Foundation and the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation. Dick DeVos ran the company from 1993 to 2002. Public records show it's owned by an entity connected to members of the billionaire Michigan-based DeVos family, whose patriarch, Richard DeVos, is a co-founder of Amway. Sometimes, the companys products and DeVos pitches had the whiff of snake oil. The rules, developed during the Obama administration, were meant to take effect on July 1, 2017. American businessman, co-founder of Amway along with Jay Van Andel. Thus began the huckster life of Rich DeVos, a boundlessly charismatic man who was defined by his remarkable ability to sell things. Under his leadership, the company opened numerous new markets and tripled foreign sales to exceed domestic sales for the first time in company history. [7] This was preceded by two heart-bypass operations in 1983 and 1992. [139], DeVos was listed for many years on IRS form Form 990s as the foundation's vice president (hitherto called the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation). Being interested in sports, Robert invested $85 million in buying the National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise Orlando Magic in 1991. Regarding the withdrawal of the department's team, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, "That's a waste of taxpayer money. Criticizing Granholm's economic policies, he said that in her place "I would have sent a very different signal to the entire regulatory infrastructure of the state, and would have taken steps to make this state more business friendly." Windquest was not interested in "glitzy and glamorous" ideas, he said, but in "technologies that were environmentally sound and economically sustainable" and thus more likely to be widely adopted. "Granholm went for the jugular talking about an investment he had in a nursing home," and "DeVos's lackluster response opened the door that led to his eventual loss." What began as two buddies selling an all-purpose cleaner door-to-door quickly grew into an army of independent salespeople hawking vitamins, soaps and other household goods to friends and familyand, controversially, earning money by signing others up as distributors too. In 1949, they formed a business called Ja-Ri, naming it after their initials, which they turned into a dealership for Nutrilite Products, after attending a company seminar on direct sales success, in Chicago. Having tried his hand at several businesses, before earning his first million in the home care, beauty, and health industry, he always believed that his hard work would pay off one day. By the late 1990s, the family was the largest single contributor of soft money to the Republican Party, Betsy DeVos wrote in a 1997 op-ed. According to Ponnuru, the study referenced by Harris, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, did "not sound nearly as helpful to Harris's case as he suggests". Born on March 04, 1926 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA , United States (96 years) Born on March 04 36. For DeVos, the American way meant a country that embraced the free-enterprise system, exalted God and held true to conservative Christian principles (This country was built on a religious heritage, he wrote in Believe!, and wed better get back to it.). Daughter-in-law Betsy DeVos chaired the Michigan Republican Party and now heads the Alliance for School Choice. He studied at the Grand Rapids Christian High School and this is where he met his friend and future business partner Jay Van Andel. Ethics laws dont require public officials like DeVos to break down their exact stake in an investment or what they have given to family members, an especially big loophole for large, dynastic wealth like the DeVos fortune. . [76] More than 300 state lawmakers from across the U.S., overwhelmingly Democrats, voiced their opposition to DeVos's appointment in a letter to the U.S. Senate sent the day before a scheduled vote on her nomination. Beloved husband of the late Berneita Ann (nee Heyman). [181], In a written response to a question about charter school performance posed during DeVos's confirmation hearing by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), asking "why do you think their performance is so poor? The use of public money was controversial. [123], DeVos has been a controversial figure throughout her tenure. [30] She has been a member and elder of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids. He was a heart-transplant survivor and authored several books that explain his work philosophy, life-journey and his memoirs. Public records show it's owned by an entity connected to members of the billionaire Michigan-based DeVos family, whose patriarch, Richard DeVos, is a co-founder of Amway. In response, AFT noted that in the same survey of around 5,000 educators, 86% felt that Devos had disrespected them. It is one of five non-profit organizations established and operated by the DeVos family; the others, all founded by siblings of Richard DeVos Jr., include the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation; the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation; Cheri DeVos' CDV5 Foundation; and the Douglas and Maria DeVos Foundation.

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