DeVos is a co-founder of Alticor, the parent of closely held direct-seller Amway. The Ada, Michigan-based company's products include Nutrilite vitamins, Artistry skin care and eSpring water filters, and are sold by 3 million independent business owners in 100 countries. He also owns the Orlando Magic basketball team.
Rich Devos's net worth of $6.56B can buy ...
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The majority of DeVos's fortune is derived from half of Alticor, the parent company of Amway, a direct seller he co-founded. The closely held business has more than 3 million distributors in 100 countries and had revenue of $8.6 billion in 2017, according to its website.
He splits ownership with the Van Andel family, as confirmed by company spokesperson Chavonne Jones in a December 2014 phone call. Daughter-in-law, Betsy DeVos, disclosed some of the family's stake in Alticor, as well as the Orlando Magic basketball team, in a January 2017 federal filing related to her position as U.S. education secretary. The family assets are all included in Richard DeVos's net worth calculation because he's the founder and ultimately controls it.
Alticor is valued based on the average enterprise value-to-Ebitda and enterprise value-to-sales multiples of four publicly traded peer companies: Avon Products, Tupperware Brands, Nu Skin Enterprises and Herbalife.
The Amway Hotel Group is valued based on 2016 room value data from the Penn State University Index of U.S. Hotel Values. Not enough information is available to value Alticor's other businesses, including Gurwitch Products, a makeup company Alticor paid Neiman Marcus $48 million for 51 percent of in 2006, as well as Kindex, a diabetes drug developer, and a series of other early stage biotech companies.
DeVos acquired the Magic for $85 million in 1991. It's valued at $1.2 billion as of October 2017, according to Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consultancy company Sportscorp. He's also a minority owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, having bought a portion in 2015, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune newspaper citing the team's 2015 media guide. This stake isn't valued because ownership level and price paid have't been disclosed. The teams aren't part of Alticor, according to Jones.
Nick Wasmiller, a spokesperson at Amway, didn't respond to requests for comment on the calculation.
Richard DeVos was born in Michigan in 1926. After serving in the U.S. Air Force for two years at the end of the World War II, he started a flight school and sold vitamins. Soon after, he and his partner, Jay Van Andel, opened a health-food store. DeVos and Van Andel started Amway in 1959, a company that would grow into a multibillion dollar direct-selling operation.
As the company grew, so did DeVos's profile and engagement in the political and philanthropic arena. He and his wife founded the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation in 1970, donating to such groups as the Heritage Foundation and the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.
A supporter of anti-gay marriage initiatives, DeVos served on President Reagan's Commission on the HIV Epidemic, drawing the ire of gay-rights activists who criticized him for his views.
In 1991, he purchased the Orlando Magic basketball team. In 2015, he and his family bought a minority interest in the Chicago Cubs baseball team.