Richard Marvin DeVos Sr. (March 4, 1926 – September 6, 2018) was 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-founder of

Amway Amway Corp. (short for "American Way") is an American multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells health, beauty, and home care products. The company was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos and is based in Ada Township, Michi ...

with Jay Van Andel (company restructured as

Alticor Alticor is a privately owned American corporation run by the DeVos and Van Andel families. It was established in 1999 to serve as the parent company for a handful of business ventures, most notably the multi-level marketing company Amway and ...

in 2000), and owner of the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

basketball team. In 2012, ''

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 ...

'' magazine listed him as the 60th wealthiest person in the United States, and the 205th richest in the world, with an estimated net worth of $5.1 billion.

Early life

DeVos was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan 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 ...

, the son of Ethel Ruth (Dekker) and Simon Cornelius DeVos,

Dutch Americans Dutch Americans () are Americans of Dutch and Flemish descent whose ancestors came from the Low Countries in the distant past, or from the Netherlands as from 1830 when the Flemish became independent from the United Kingdom of the Netherla ...

who worked in the electrical business. He was educated at Grand Rapids Christian School, and at

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

, and was a member of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

fraternity. He served in the military in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

Career

Amway

DeVos and his school friend Jay Van Andel founded

in 1959 as a

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial and sometimes illegal marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salarie ...

business to distribute cleaning products, following the business model they had observed in a previous venture together. They ran the business together, expanding it over the decades into an international distributor of a wide variety of products.

Books

Books written by him include ''Compassionate Capitalism'' and ''Hope From My Heart: Ten Lessons For Life''. The latter reflects his feelings after successfully undergoing a

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedure is to take a functioning heart ...

operation in the United Kingdom in 1997 after being turned down for a transplant in the United States because of his age and diabetes. This was preceded by two heart-bypass operations in 1983 and 1992. In 1975, DeVos published a book about his success, co-authored with Charles Paul Conn, titled ''Believe!''. In 2014 he published his memoirs, titled ''Simply Rich''.

Sports ownership

DeVos was the owner of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

team

, having bought the team in 1991 for $85 million. He became interested in the team after an unsuccessful effort to acquire a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

expansion franchise for Orlando. DeVos also formerly owned the

Orlando Solar Bears The Orlando Solar Bears are a professional ice hockey team that plays their home games at Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa ...

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing their home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of t ...

, and the

Kansas City Blades The Kansas City Blades were a professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (1945–2001), International Hockey League (IHL) from 1990 until 2001, when the league folded. The Blades were based in Kansas City, Missouri, at Kempe ...

, three International Hockey League franchises before that league folded; the Solar Bears and Blades were closed as a result of the league folding, while the Griffins moved to the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, and are now under the ownership of Dan DeVos, one of Richard's sons. DeVos asked

Orange County, Florida Orange County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,429,908, making it the fifth-most populous county in Florida and the List of ...

, to help pay for the Orlando Magic's new arena using county funds and Dema Stobell's Corporation money.

, for a time, paid for the naming rights to

Amway Center Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) is an indoor arena located in the Downtown Orlando, downtown core of Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, ...

(now Kia Center). The use of public money was controversial.

Boards

He sat on the board of trustees of

Northwood University Northwood University (NU) is a private university focused on business education with its main campus in Midland, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1959, more than 33,000 people have graduated from the institution. History Northwood Universit ...

and had been president of the Council for National Policy. He also served on the board of trustees of the

National Constitution Center The National Constitution Center is a non-profit institution that is devoted to the study of the Constitution of the United States. Located at the Independence Mall (Philadelphia), Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the center is a ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, which is a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution. He sat on the legacy board of Christian Leaders Institute, the nonprofit organization founded by Henry Reyenga Jr. after he was encouraged by DeVos and Ron Parr.

Political involvement

DeVos was a major donor to the

U.S. Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a right-wing political party in the United States. One of the two major parties, it emerged as the main rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the tw ...

and to conservative causes, including

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is an American Christian fundamentalism, Evangelical Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of Evangel ...

, and the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...

. DeVos supported the candidacies of

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum Sr. ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's Chairman of the United Sta ...

and

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

. DeVos has served as a finance chairman for the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

. In 1987, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

appointed DeVos to the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic, and was criticized at the time for characterizing people with AIDS as wanting "special treatment". He was a dedicated opponent of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. DeVos was a long-time close friend of

Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

and Betty Ford, and was an honorary pallbearer at Gerald Ford's state funeral. He was an honorary trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Donations

He co-founded the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, an American conservative foundation and grant-making body in 1970.Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation
It is based in

. The DeVoses were known in their philanthropy for contributing to education, health care, arts, and historic causes like

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

, and conservative think tanks such as

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

and AEI. Education-related philanthropy included the Richard M. and Helen DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

, the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse at

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan, United States. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman coll ...

, and the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Arts and Worship at Grand Rapids Christian Schools. The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation was in part responsible for funding the creation of the Sport Business Management Program at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

.Sport Business – About the DeVos Foundation

Personal life

Richard DeVos was the father of Dan (owner of the

hockey team), Richard Jr. ("Dick", husband of former Education Secretary

Betsy DeVos Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Education, United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021 ...

and candidate for governor of Michigan), Cheri, and Doug. DeVos was a member of the

Christian Reformed Church in North America The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA or CRC) is a Protestant Calvinist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was found ...

. He spent the last decade of his life trying unsuccessfully to rejoin it with the

Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 82,865 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed ...

, from which it had split in 1857, dividing his grandparents.Knape, Chris (May 19, 2009)
"At 83, Amway co-founder Richard DeVos prepares company's third generation, addresses church, gay-marriage concerns"
Michigan Live.

Death

He died at his home in

Ada, Michigan Ada Township ( ) is a civil township of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,388 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The majority of the township is included in the Forest Hills, Mich ...

on September 6, 2018, at the age of 92.

References

External links

*
Richard DeVos's campaign contributions
at Newsmeat {{DEFAULTSORT:Devos, Richard 1926 births 2018 deaths American billionaires Amway people Calvin University alumni American people of Dutch descent Christians from Michigan Orlando Magic executives Orlando Miracle owners Businesspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan Military personnel from Michigan Women's National Basketball Association executives Heart transplant recipients American members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America American male writers United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II People associated with direct selling Michigan Republicans Orlando Magic owners

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

Acton Institute Grand Rapids Christian High School alumni