Betsy & Dick Devos: "You help make . [41] The DeVos family has been active in Republican politics for decades, particularly as donors to candidates and the party, giving more than $17million to political candidates and committees since 1989. The 13,000-square-foot home is being built for a total of at least $12.7 million, Crain's reported in March 2016, combining the land cost of $2.75 million and the value stated on the construction permits: $9.98 million. January 31, 2023. I want young people to experience something that might broaden their world."[38]. Zack Stanton is digital editor of Politico Magazine. According to a press release, he died . "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." [178], DeVos has been an advocate for the Detroit charter school system. Or would you say the state has the flexibility?" In 1959after numerous ventures into entrepreneurshipthey started a new business together in the basements of their homes. Not for nothing was the company named Amway. [15], He sat on the board of trustees of Northwood University and has been president of the Council for National Policy. As boys, he and his brother Doug were "tapped as mini-hosts", assigned to greet attendees at Amway's annual conventions, and they "helped out with everything from clearing plates during gatherings to ferrying guests to play tennis or waterski. In the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Detroit had the lowest reading and mathematics scores "by far" over any city participating in the evaluation. 24 on its 2015 list of America's top givers. 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. We've made a commitment to do that. They donated the award money to Michigans local organizations that were working towards helping people. [41], The DeVoses have also established an annual scholarship, called the Betsy and Dick DeVos Scholars for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Scholarship, which is awarded to students who wish to earn a BBA or combined BBA/MBA at Northwood University.[42]. Richard DeVos was the father of Dan (owner of the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team), Richard Jr. ("Dick", husband of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and candidate for governor of Michigan), Cheri, and Doug. [3], Since 1982, DeVos has participated in the Michigan Republican Party. Born on March 04, 1926 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA , United States (96 years) Born on March 04 36. But the makings of the movement were therethe sexual revolution, the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade ruling, the pornography wars, the white backlash to desegregation, the backlash to the womens lib movement, the rise of the silent majority.. 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. Dick DeVos ran the company from 1993 to 2002. [114][115][116][117], In October 2017, DeVos revoked 72 guidance documents of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services which outlined the rights of disabled students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act. DeVos was born March 4, 1926, in Grand Rapids, graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School, attended Calvin College and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1944-46. He attended Calvin College and upon graduating, served in the US Army Air Corps during the Second World War. At the end of the usual routes, young Rich had the chance to peddle the leftover vegetables. [40], The Dick & Betsy DeVos Scholarship was established in 2008 by DeVos and his wife to [153][154], DeVos has served as chairperson, board member, and treasurer of the Acton Institute and headed the All Children Matter PAC. [103], On April 11, 2017, DeVos undid several Obama administration policy memos issued by John King Jr. and Ted Mitchell which were designed to protect student loan borrowers. [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). Click below to see everything we have to offer. [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. He helped his distributors along the way with guidelines and best practices, but he mostly saw himself as a cheerleader for people to realize their own capabilities and to expand their ideas of what is possible, all while undergirded by specific political and spiritual ideas he saw as fundamental to the American way.. The DeVos Family Foundation invests in initiatives that create pathways to opportunities, support the healthy growth of children and families, and cultivate thriving communities. "[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. Daughter-in-law Betsy DeVos chaired the Michigan Republican Party and now heads the Alliance for School Choice. [54], DeVos and his wife have homes in Grand Rapids and Ada, Michigan. [20] As of October 27, 2006, the DeVos campaign had spent $39 million, of which nearly $35 million was DeVos's own money. At Amway, DeVos relied on the success of independent distributors to sell his companys products in an arrangement that critics have likened to a pyramid scheme: You become an Amway distributor, buy products from Amway, sell them at a markup to customers, keep the difference, and get distributors under you to do the same and kick you back a piece of the action. [20][21] DeVos has served as a finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. [185], DeVos has been played by Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live multiple times, including satirizing DeVos's 60 Minutes interview in March 2018. The couple agreed to sell off dozens of other holdings when Betsy was tapped to lead the education department, including investments in student lender SoFi and a company that sells laundry machines to college campuses. Those documents indicate that Betsys husband Dick DeVos and his three siblings had equal interests in the subsidiary, an indication that they equally split their ownership of the rest of Amway. During the Great Depression, he sold freshly farmed vegetables door to door in Grand Rapids, Michigan. DeVos and her husband founded it in 1989. [175], DeVos was chair of the American Federation for Children (AFC). [26] It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. [9][10] Her brother, Erik Prince, a former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, is the founder of Blackwater USA. But when, at age 88, Rich DeVos took to the last of his several memoirs to call his grandfather a huckster, he said it with love and admirationan honorable profession, not one of trickery or flimflam. "[1], She also wrote (in Roll Call) that she expected results from her political contributions. [135], On January 7, 2021, DeVos resigned from her position as Secretary of Education after the January 6 U.S. Capitol riots. Richard Marvin DeVos Jr. (born October 21, 1955) is an American businessman and author. DeVos was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Helen June (Van Wesep) and Richard Marvin DeVos. 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. [1][2][3] He congratulated the re-elected Granholm via phone after the results were in. "[90], In April 2017, DeVos praised the president's nomination of Carlos G. Muiz as the department's general counsel. [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 families split ownership 50/50, according to a spokesperson of the DeVos family. They worked on an airplane charter business, a sailing venture and even tried to run a hamburger stand, before they were introduced to Nutrilite. Amway Corporation founded; Entreprenurial Success. [109] On July 12, 2020, she said "there's nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous to them", an assertion that public health experts disputed. His father, Richard DeVos Sr., cofounded Amway in 1959 alongside his high school friend, Jay Van Andel. Rich and Helen DeVos built a legacy of giving, and this prioritydriven by faith and compassionis reflected in the lives and mission of their family. "[46], During the Republican Party presidential primaries for the 2016 election, DeVos initially donated to Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina before eventually supporting Marco Rubio. [80] During an unusually early 6:30a.m. vote on February 3, 2017, cloture was invoked on DeVos's nomination in the Senate, requiring a final vote on the confirmation to happen after 30 hours of debate. Four ways to get Michael Jordan's mansion sold at last, Sponsored Content: Tech firm helps Chicago businesses create new markets, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown resigns, The Most Powerful Women In Chicago Business. [19], DeVos was a major donor to the U.S. Republican Party and to conservative causes, including Focus on the Family, and the American Enterprise Institute. [55] In addition, they have a vacation home in Holland, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Macatawa. Daniel was born in 1959 and is a businessman and sports executive. Downtown condos are selling for long-ago prices. [182][183], In February 2017, artist Glenn McCoy created a political cartoon called Trying to Trash Betsy DeVos, based on Norman Rockwell's The Problem We All Live With. [158], In 2009, Betsy DeVos's son Rick DeVos founded ArtPrize, an international art competition held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dick is the eldest son of Richard DeVos, who co-founded Amway in 1959, and grew it from a meager soap factory into a multinational colossus with $9.5 billion in annual sales, enlisting his. American businessman, co-founder of Amway along with Jay Van Andel. Rich was known globally for his business achievements and locally in West Michigan and Central. [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". The son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, he served as CEO of the multi-level marketing company from 1993 to 2002. In 1991, he "convened a group of more than 50 community and civic leaders to begin the process of revitalizing downtown" under the name of Grand Vision, later Grand Action. [12][13][14][15] In 2016, the family was listed by Forbes as the 88th-richest in America, with an estimated net worth of $5.4billion. [96], On March 24, 2017, during a visit to the Osceola County campus of Valencia College, DeVos said she was considering the extension of federal financial aid for students that were year-round and interested in placing more focus on community colleges. He is also the majority owner of AHLs Grand Rapids Griffins. The Education Department has hired more ex-employees and people affiliated with those institutions, such as Robert S. Eitel, senior counselor to DeVos, Diane Auer Jones, an advisor to the department, and Carlos G. Muiz, the department's general counsel. Among the fruits of this effort were a new sports arena, a new convention center, a new J.W. He also owned three International Hockey League (IHL) franchises: Kansas City Blades, Orlando Solar Bears and Grand Rapids Griffins, till the league dissolved in 2001, and two of the team shut down. In 1982, during a recession in the middle of Reagans first term, DeVos, always one to speak his mind, told an assembled group of Republican bigwigs that this recession has been a beneficial thing and a cleansing thing for society. As the RNC attempted to court support from organized labor, their efforts were undercut by their own finance chair, who called unions a negative wind and said that they had no place in the Republican Party: If they want to be represented by somebody else, good for them.. Richard is the son of Simon Cornelius DeVos and Ethel Ruth Dekker. DeVos was a member of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. [127] The following day, the U.S. Now Forbes has zeroed in on the root of the DeVos family fortune, Amway, to come up with what we believe is the most realistic estimate of the size of her fortune published so far. [29][26], DeVos grew up as a member of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. He was born on March 4, 1926 inGrand Rapids, Michigan. 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. They've got to go if we want to help manufacturing and bring jobs back to Michigan." The DeVos Family Foundation (DVFF) is a collaborative effort between the familys second and third generations to maintain this philosophy of investing in things that truly matter. Richard DeVos parents were poor immigrants from the Netherlands. 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. in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA , United States (96 years), This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Richard DEVOS (1926), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. [152] During her tenure, she reportedly donated $431,000 to the church between 2002 and 2004 and $453,349 to Flannel, producer of the NOOMA video series. DeVos was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I hear it from business people everywhere I go in this state. [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. Member, FAA Management Advisory Council, September 2017present. If a particular business approach is not economically viable it will not be sustainable." They reportedly own at least ten yachts, including the 164-foot Seaquest. Would you say to Indiana, that school cannot discriminate against LGBT students if you want to receive federal dollars? Upon her nomination, DeVos said "I am honored to work with the President-elect on his vision to make American education great again. Over the years Amway and its parent company, Alticor, have showered them with an estimated $4 billion in pretax profits, which they have funneled into dozens of other business ventures and expensive toys, overseen by two family offices. [111], On July 13, 2017, Candice Jackson, who is a sexual assault survivor, organized a meeting with DeVos, college sexual assault victims, accused assailants, and higher education officials, and said she would look at policies on sexual assault accusations on campuses from the Obama administration to see if accused students were treated within their rights. Born In: Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, place of death: Ada Township, Michigan, United States, See the events in life of Richard M. DeVos in Chronological Order. Get the best business coverage in Chicago, from breaking news to razor-sharp analysis, in print and online. "[27], In October 2008, DeVos donated $200,000 to the PAC opposing Michigan State Proposal 08-2 (2008). After retiring from Alticor, DeVos returned to become president of The Windquest Group. "The unintended consequences of Proposal 2 will result in a $1.6-billion annual tax hike," said DeVos. 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