now worth nearly $1.2 billion net of debt, they raked in money from at least 85 separate sources last year, which has been roughly estimated at $200 million. This includes various donations of scholarships, buildings and uncountable financial donations. The Windquest Group is a privately held investment management firm with holdings in technology, manufacturing, and other sectors. [6] DeVos is a graduate of the Forest Hills public school system. Suite 3200 DeVos and his entire family are known for ardently supporting the Republicans and have regularly donated to the Republican causes. Betsy, the daughter of auto parts magnate Edgar Prince and sister of Blackwater founder Erik. [2], DeVos was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Ethel Ruth (Dekker) and Simon Cornelius DeVos, Dutch Americans[3] who worked in the electrical business. It sort of has to do with being poor by choice.). "[30], In a December 2012 article in The New York Times, Nicholas Confessore and Monica Davey reported that after President Obama's re-election, DeVos "began dialing up state lawmakers in Lansing," telling them that it was time to pass a right-to-work law. ", Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Republican Party presidential primaries for the 2016 election, Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, Betsy DeVos Education Secretary Confirmation Hearing, Betsy DeVos's confirmation hearing, in three minutes, Final Vote in the Senate for Confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, National Assessment of Educational Progress, List of female United States Cabinet members, "Betsy DeVos: 5 faith facts to know about the Education secretary", "Betsy DeVos, Trump's education pick, is a billionaire with deep ties to the Christian Reformed community", "Trump's education pick says reform can 'advance God's Kingdom', "A Sea of Charter Schools in Detroit Leaves Students Adrift", "Trump's education secretary pick led group that owes millions in election fines", "Trump Picks Betsy DeVos, Daughter-in-Law of Billionaire Amway Cofounder, for Education Secretary", "How Betsy DeVos Could Fix America's Broken Education System", "Investor pleads guilty in philanthropist fraud case,", "'I'm Tired of America Wasting Our Blood and Treasure' The Strange Ascent of Betsy DeVos and Erik Prince,", Trump's education secretary pick supported anti-gay causes, "Trump picks billionaire Betsy DeVos, school voucher advocate, as education secretary", "Senate committee approves DeVos nomination", "Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie", "Pence Becomes First VP to Break Senate Tie over Cabinet Nomination", "Mike Pence's Vote on a Cabinet Nominee Would Be Historic", "Schumer, Pelosi Call for Trump's Removal After Capitol Riot", "Amway heir Dick and Betsy DeVos move into sprawling 22,000-square-foot mansion", "How Betsy DeVos Used God and Amway to Take Over Michigan Politics", "Betsy DeVos and the Plan to Break Public Schools", "What you need to know about Betsy DeVos", "Interview with Betsy DeVos, the Reformer", "Michigan Multi-Millionaire Betsy DeVos Is A Four-Star General in a Deceptive Behind-The-Scenes War on Public Schools And Church-State Separation", "Onward Christian Cabinet: Trump's White House Picks Are a Christmas Gift for the Religious Right", "U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Statement for Completion by Executive Branch Nominees", "Profiles: Organizational Donor: Elizabeth DeVos", "Affirmative action initiative poses problems for politicians", "Voters in California And Michigan Face Referenda on Voucher Aid To Religious Schools", "Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Urges Bush to Meet With Big Three Automakers", "Bush attends fund-raiser in Grand Rapids", DeVos family political giving nears $10 million prior to 2016 election, Betsy DeVos, billionaire philanthropist, picked as Trump education secretary, "Most Americans want to limit campaign spending, say big donors have greater political influence", "What Betsy DeVos Did (and Didn't) Reveal About Her Education Priorities", "Betsy DeVos: Everything You Need to Know", "Betsy DeVos Lost More on Theranos than the Average American Will Make in 100 Lifetimes", "Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aime Semple McPherson Broadway @ Neil Simon Theatre Tickets and Discounts", "Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson", "Betsy DeVos Invests in a Therapy Under Scrutiny", "Grade Point Betsy DeVos's ethics review raises further questions for Democrats and watchdogs", "Pick for U.S. education secretary rankles autism community", "Betsy DeVos Won't Shed Stake in Biofeedback Company, Filings Show", "Democrats request another hearing for DeVos, Trump's education pick, before confirmation vote", "TINA.ORG FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST 'BRAIN TRAINING' COMPANY NEUROCORE", "Neurocore, LLC's Unapproved Medical Device", "Neurocore, LLC's Use of Unsubstantiated Medical Treatment Claims", "Meet Betsy DeVos, the polarizing charter-school advocate Trump has tapped as education secretary", "Why is Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick for education secretary, so unpopular? In the 1960s and '70s, DeVos believed that those values were under threatfrom the rise of the welfare state and the decline of religion to the Soviet threat and the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. "DeVos said she was thinking about the couple's interest in education and her husband Dick's love of flying. In 1999, they created a company Alticor, which would act as the parent firm to all their businesses. [26] It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dick was born on 21 October, 1955. [28] He is a major backer of the America First Action PAC. Dick DeVos ran the company from 1993 to 2002. We are the only state that has not moved to positive ground when it comes to actual numbers of jobs in the marketplace," he said. [153][154], DeVos has served as chairperson, board member, and treasurer of the Acton Institute and headed the All Children Matter PAC. [20][21] DeVos has served as a finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. The greatest salesman in the country had an in at the White House; he even visited Ford in the Oval Office, where the president asked him to deliver one of his motivational speeches, for an audience of one. They've got to go if we want to help manufacturing and bring jobs back to Michigan." [123], DeVos has been a controversial figure throughout her tenure. [42], Rick and Betsy DeVos married in 1979, and have four grown children: Rick, Elissa, Andrea, and Ryan. Staying current is easy with Crain's news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. Growing up during the Great Depression, he credited his lifetime of success and happiness to the presence of a strong, caring, faith-based, values-oriented family. . Under the leadership of Jay and Richard, Amway expanded into international markets such as Australia and Europe and some parts in Asia in the 1970s. [19], On June 2, 2005, at Mackinac Island, DeVos announced his candidacy for governor of Michigan. Richard M. DeVos married Helen Van Wesep on 7 February 1953 and the couple had four children; three sons Richard Jr. or Dick DeVos, born in 1955, Dan DeVos born in 1959 and Doug DeVos born in 1964, and a daughter Suzanne Cheri DeVos. [22] In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed DeVos to the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic,[23] and was criticized at the time for characterizing people with AIDS as wanting "special treatment". The DeVos family is one of Michigan's wealthiest. [55] In addition, they have a vacation home in Holland, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Macatawa. Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. 1-877-812-1590. The show ran for three weeks, closing in December 2012[48] after receiving negative reviews. DeVos provided examples of several charter schools that she said had 4-year graduation exceeding 90%. He studied at the Grand Rapids Christian High School and this is where he met his friend and future business partner Jay Van Andel. "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." It's how the DeVos family climbed from the working-class Dutch neighborhoods of Grand Rapids to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in American life, with the current. Also the DeVos family has contributed much to Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. In a 20-month span, Alticor cut over 1,300 jobs (primarily in Michigan) during this restructuring, with 400 of them being buyouts and early retirement. "I still remember when it was in the basement of our home when I was growing up," he later said. [62][63] Republican senator Ben Sasse said DeVos "has made a career out of standing up to powerful and connected special interests on behalf of poor kids who are too often forgotten by Washington". In 2006, DeVos ran for Governor of Michigan, but lost to the then-incumbent Democrat Jennifer Granholm. 11th United States Secretary of Education, Opposition to limits on political spending, Benjamin Wermund and Kimberly Hefling (November 25, 2016). [16], A 2010 article reported on a Windquest venture called The Green Machine, which "converts waste heat that's the byproduct of a manufacturing process in liquid or gaseous form into electricity.". [16] He sat on the legacy board of Christian Leaders Institute,[17][18] the nonprofit organization founded by Henry Reyenga Jr. after he was encouraged by DeVos and Ron Parr. Loving father of Rick, Julia, Duke, and. [87] This was the first tie decided by a vice president on any vote in the Senate since the George W. Bush administration. In 2016, Meek told Crain's that the house will be 13,145 square feet with a glass and stone contemporary-styled exterior. [128], On May 10, 2017, DeVos gave a commencement speech at BethuneCookman University, a historically black college, and during her speech a majority of the students booed DeVos, with about half of them standing up and turning their backs to her. DeVos, Richard M. Amway co-founder and Orlando Magic Senior Chairman Richard M. DeVos died September 6, 2018, at his home in Ada, Michigan. Please try again. Salesmanship is how DeVos grew Amway, the company he cofounded in 1959, from a meager soap business into a multibillion-dollar worldwide conglomerate. It meant a country where the only limit to what one could achieve was how hard one worked (I think being poor is something many people do, he said in a 1966 speech. Sway in State Contests", "The inside story from Dick DeVos on how right-to-work was passed in Michigan", "Right-wingers Koch, ALEC, pushed Michigan 'right-to-work' laws", "Dick DeVos launching aviation-themed charter high school at Ford Airport this fall", "West Michigan Aviation Students Tour DC", "Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Gets $22.5M Gift from DeVos Family", "DeVos Claims to be Public Education Advocate; Granholm Supports Militarization of the US-Mexico Border at Second Gubernatorial Debate", "NU offers scholarship for aspiring entrepreneurs", "$500K study looks at Lake Macatawa pollution sources", "Was There a Connection Between a Russian Bank and the Trump Campaign? He also led the Council for National Policy, a powerful and secretive organization meant to bolster the political influence of conservative Christians. [37] DeVos resigned the position in 2000. [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? 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." [92], In mid-May 2018, The New York Times reported that under DeVos, the size of the team investigating abuses and fraud by for-profit colleges was reduced from about twelve members under the Obama administration to three, with their task also being scaled back to "processing student loan forgiveness applications and looking at smaller compliance cases". And sometimes, DeVos tried to sell ideas that people werent interested in buying. ", "Michigan Effort Shows G.O.P. Van Wesep and married Richard in the year 1953. She currently is the Vice President of Corporate Affairs and an ex-Policy Board Member of Amway Corporation. By contrast, "big union bosses have engaged in cozy deals and political backroom dealings in order to advance their personal agendas, not those of their members," They focused especially on Michigan's Proposition 2, which would protect collective bargaining. Stahl added, "The public schools here are doing worse than they did." That share is worth an estimated $1.3 billion. Distributors might imagine theyll end up like the man himself, worth billions, but the fact is that less than one-half of 1 percent of Amways independent business operators make more than $12,000 a year in sales, and many others lose money, as is disclosed in the fine print of a company pamphlet. [65][66] On January 17, 2017, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held the hearing, which lasted three-and-one-half hours and "quickly became a heated and partisan debate". DeVos supported the candidacies of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Marshals Service said after a threat evaluation was conducted in February that DeVos would be given additional security, projecting a cost of $7.8million between February and September 2017. He . He died in September 2018. Publishers Weekly described it as follows: "Drawing on inspirational anecdotes taken from a cross section of the population, he describes how people have bettered themselves both morally and in their careers by practicing such values as honesty, compassion, self-discipline, initiative, hard work, charity and forgiveness. He is a businessman and a politician by profession. "We're fighting with Mississippi for the highest unemployment rate in the country. [8], DeVos is married to former Amway CEO Dick DeVos. [21], An article published on August 3, 2005, quoted DeVos as saying that the main issue for Michigan voters was the state's economy. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. [15] [73][74][75], Prior to DeVos's confirmation, numerous U.S. senators from both parties reported tens of thousands of their constituents having contacted their offices in opposition to the confirmation of DeVos. [62] The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Michigan Democratic Party opposed DeVos's nomination. The latter reflects his feelings after successfully undergoing a heart transplant operation in the United Kingdom in 1997 after being turned down for a transplant in the United States because of his age and diabetes. "By casting off the practice of forced unionization; Michigan now publicly declares to other states and in fact the world, that we embrace freedom for our workers, true equality in the workplace and that we are ready to compete with anyone, anywhere to create economic opportunity for our Michigan families." He was 92-years old at the time. [109] She also refused to say whether schools should follow guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on reopening schools. "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]. Richard "Rich" Marvin DeVos Sr. (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. According to Harris, she designed a system with no oversight in which schools that do poorly can continue to enroll students. That stake has made the DeVoses unbelievably rich. [24], DeVos was a long-time close friend of Gerald and Betty Ford, and was an honorary pallbearer at Gerald Ford's state funeral. DeVos ran for governor of Michigan in 2006, but lost to Democrat Jennifer Granholm. That evolved to speaking in front of groups and even giving product demonstrations." [58], On November 23, 2016, Trump's transition team announced DeVos as the nominee to be the next secretary of education. [9] In 2014 he published his memoirs, titled Simply Rich. 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 [7] This was preceded by two heart-bypass operations in 1983 and 1992. Is this 2023 or 2013? He was a heart-transplant survivor and authored several books that explain his work philosophy, life-journey and his memoirs. Richard is the son of Simon Cornelius DeVos and Ethel Ruth Dekker. "[7], When the DeVos family acquired the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic basketball franchise in 1991, DeVos's father, Richard DeVos became president and CEO of the team. The love and guidance provided by his parent's has permeated his marriage of more than 60 years. The academy is located on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. Another entity, Windquest Group, manages Dick and Betsys personal investments from a few blocks away. Helen DeVos was born in the year 1925 as Helen J. But for more than two years, the extent of her finances has been a mystery. [110], On June 2, 2017, DeVos announced her support of President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement the prior day. The Griffins are a part of American Hockey League now and are owned by Richards son Dan. [42] Betsy DeVos's husband, Richard Marvin "Dick" DeVos Jr., is a multi-billionaire heir to the Amway fortune who ran Amway's parent company, Alticor, from 1993 to 2002. DeVos and his wife have four children: Richard Marvin (Rick) III, Elisabeth (Elissa), Andrea, and Ryan, and eight grandchildren. The house, clad in a white-veined black stone, has neo-classical neighbors. [4] He was educated at Grand Rapids Christian School,[5] and at Calvin College, and was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. His second book was Compassionate Capitalism that released in 1993, then in 2000 came Hope From My Heart: Ten Lessons For Life which is a book that depicts his feelings post his heart transplant surgery that he underwent in 1997, and in 2014, he published his autobiography Simply Rich. RDV Corporation, the family office set up by Richard Sr., handles the familys non-Amway or Magic activities from a discreet building in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. DeVos ran for governor of Michigan in 2006, but lost to Democrat Jennifer Granholm. He and his high school friend Jay Van Andel (d. 2004) started Amway (short for "American Way") in 1959, selling. His first book Believe, published in 1975 which was co-written by Charles Paul Conn, documents his journey of becoming a successful businessman.

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