John Robert Menard Jr. (born January 22, 1940) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busi ...

businessman, and the founder and owner of

Menards Menards is an American home improvement retail company headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Menards is owned by founder John Menard Jr. through his privately held company, Menard, Inc. It has 335 stores in 15 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, ...

, a

Midwestern The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

chain of home improvement stores. He is a former

INDYCAR INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapoli ...

racing team owner, and the father of former

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

driver

Paul Menard John Paul Christian Menard (born August 21, 1980) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. Men ...

. He is the son of John Robert Menard Sr (1917–1988). As of 11 June 2021, ''

Bloomberg Billionaires Index The ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', launched in March 2012, is a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people based on their net worth. It draws information from "action in the stock market, economic indicators and news reports", features a p ...

'' ranked him the 103rd-richest person in the world with a net worth of US$18.9 billion.

Life and education

The oldest of eight siblings in a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family with German, French-Canadian, and Norwegian roots, Menard attended Eau Claire Regis High School. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire with a degree in business and a minor in psychology. Menard began his career constructing pole buildings with friends from college. He made his home in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

. Menard has six children, and married his third wife, Faiha Obaid, in 2008. In 1997, Menard was caught using his own pickup truck to haul plastic bags filled with chromium and arsenic-laden wood ash to his home for disposal with his household trash. Menard pleaded no contest to felony and misdemeanor charges involving records violations, unlawful transportation, and improper disposal of hazardous waste. Menard and his company were fined $1.7 million for 21 violations. In 2013 the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

ordered Menard to pay $6 million in back taxes after he allegedly mischaracterized $20 million as salary, not dividends, deducting it as a business expense. In a separate case, the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

forced Menard to pay $1.6 million to a former legal counsel to compensate for gender discrimination and gross underpayment. In April 2020, Menard was among several businessmen named to the economic advisory group established by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

Menards

Menard opened his first hardware store in 1964. As of 2022, his company owned 335

stores. As of 2005, Menards grossed an estimated $5.5 billion in sales. Menard had a net worth of $8.6 billion in 2013, according to the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is pub ...

, and is the richest person in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. In 2013, Menard ousted a former investment partner, Stephen Hilbert, a 20% shareholder in MH Equity, for mismanaging assets and resources. Menard has a pronounced hostility towards organized labor. He imposed an absolute ban on hiring anyone who had ever belonged to a union. One employee described having to fire two promising management prospects because they had worked in high school as baggers for a unionized supermarket. Managers at

are subject to 60% pay cuts if their store becomes unionized. Managers also have to agree to pay fines of $100 per minute for infractions such as opening late and to submit any disputes to arbitration rather than legal courts.

Motorsports involvement

, John Jr.'s son, raced sixteen years in the

, winning the

2011 Brickyard 400 The 2011 Brickyard 400 presented by BigMachineRecords.com, the 18th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on July 31, 2011 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Contested over 160 laps on th ...

. Menard also owns an engine shop in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

that produced engines for

Team Menard Team Menard was an auto racing team that competed in the Indianapolis 500, CART, Indy Racing League, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was owned by Menards founder, John Menard Jr.. Founded in 1980 to compete in CAR ...

and

Robby Gordon Motorsports Robby Gordon Motorsports is a motorsports constructor owned by Robby Gordon. The company was formed in 2005 as a race team for Gordon's NASCAR career. RGM spent the years of 2005 to 2012 competing in the NASCAR Cup Series, and part-time stints ...

, the former of which, owned by Menard, won the 1997 and 1999

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

championships. Menards is a primary sponsor of the

Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona ...

#2 Ford Mustang. They are also primary sponsors of his teammate in the #12 Mustang

Ryan Blaney Ryan Michael Blaney (born December 31, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blaney a ...

in the

. In the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, Menards sponsors the

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...

#19 Toyota Supra with driver Brandon Jones. In the

Gander Outdoors Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of t ...

, Menards sponsors the

ThorSport Racing ThorSport Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was founded in 1996 as SealMaster Racing and is based in Sandusky, Ohio. Owned by Duke Thorson and his wife ...

#88 Toyota Tundra with driver Matt Crafton. Menards was a former partner of

Robby Gordon Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...

, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Martin Truex Jr. across various series. Menard also sponsored

Frank Kimmel Francis James Kimmel (born April 30, 1962) is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, from 1990 through 2016. Kimmel is the most successful driver in ARCA history. He has won the ARCA championsh ...

for several years in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. After RE/MAX declined to renew their sponsorship, Menards took over as title sponsor, renaming the series the ARCA Menards Series. Menards-sponsored cars are easily recognizable on tracks, as they are typically painted with a

fluorescent Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, ...

yellow livery.

Donations

In January 2008, Menard gave $15 million to support Eau Claire's Luther Midelfort Hospital. The donation was used for a new emergency services department and to help the hospital educate and train health professionals.Eau Claire Leader Telegram, January 23, 2008 In 2015, Menard donated $10 million to support the Eau Claire Area YMCA. The gift helped replace the five-court LE Phillips Tennis Center that opened in 1972 to become an eight-court indoor tennis center known as the John and Fay Menard YMCA Tennis Center. In 2019, The Menard family donated $5 million to the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at Ohio State University's

Moritz College of Law The Michael E. Moritz College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the Ohio State University, a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1891, the school is located in Drinko Hall on the main campus of the ...

. In addition to supporting the center's research, engagement, and student enrichment, the donation also supports an endowed lecture and an annual national conference. A supporter of conservative causes, Menard has donated to the political groups of the

Koch brothers The Koch family ( ) is an American family engaged in business, best known for their political activities and their control of Koch Industries, the 2nd largest privately owned company in the United States (with 2019 revenues of $115 billion). ...

References

External links

Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menard, John 1940 births Living people American billionaires American businesspeople in retailing IndyCar Series team owners American people of German descent American people of French-Canadian descent American people of Norwegian descent NASCAR team owners People from Eau Claire, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni Businesspeople from Wisconsin Wisconsin Republicans