Hendrik G. "Hank" Meijer (born 1952) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businessman, co-chairman and CEO of the US supermarket chain

Meijer Meijer Inc. (, ) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwestern United States. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering ...

Early life

Hank Meijer is the son of Lena Rader and

Frederik Meijer Frederik Gerhard Hendrik "Fred" Meijer (December 7, 1919 – November 25, 2011) was an American billionaire businessman who was the chairman of the Meijer hypermarket chain, headquartered near his former hometown in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ear ...

, and grandson of Hendrik Meijer, who founded the US supermarket chain

in 1934. He was educated at Creston High School. In 1973, he graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

with a degree in literature.

Career

From 1973 to 1979, Meijer was a journalist. In 1979, he joined Meijer, rising to co-chairman and CEO. According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', Hank and Doug Meijer have a joint net worth of $7.8 billion, as of June 2015. Meijer is on the board of directors at the

Kettering Foundation The Kettering Foundation is a US-based non-partisan research foundation founded in 1927 by Charles F. Kettering that works to inspire and connect individuals and organizations to advance thriving and inclusive democracies around the globe. Th ...

, an American

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

research foundation founded in 1927 by

Charles F. Kettering Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 25, 1958) sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. For the list of patents issued to Kettering, see, Le ...

Personal life

He has three children from his first marriage, and is now married to Liesel Litzenburger, a writer and novelist. He lives in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, Michigan. He was a close friend of President and Mrs.

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

, and is vice-chairman and a trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. In 2015, his daughter's British ex-husband was jailed for 12 years for attempting to blackmail the family. His son,

Peter Meijer Peter James Meijer (, ; born January 10, 1988) is an American politician and business analyst who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), ...

, is a former Republican Party congressman for

Michigan's 3rd congressional district Michigan's 3rd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, U.S. congressional district in West Michigan. From 2003 to 2013, it consisted of the counties of Barry County, Michigan, Barry and Ionia County, Michigan, ...

Works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meijer, Hank 1952 births Living people American retail chief executives American billionaires Businesspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan Hank University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni American chief executives of food industry companies