Michigan Billionaires: 12 People On Forbes List Worth $40.9 Billion Collectively

DETROIT, MI — Forbes’ list of the wealthiest of the wealthy in Michigan looks much as it did last year. The names haven’t changed, but the rankings indicate the rising — and sometimes falling — fortunes of the state’s business and sports tycoons.

As they have for the past several years, supermarket heirs Hank and Doug Meijer, of Grand Rapids, topped the list. Sports team and pizza business owner Marian Ilitch, of Bingham Farms, is the second-wealthiest Michigander, having that title alone since the death of her husband, Mike Ilitch, earlier this year. Ilitch overtook businessman and sports franchise owner Daniel Gilbert, of Franklin, who is No. 3 on the list.

Richard DeVos, of Holland, father-in-law of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, is the fourth-richest person in Michigan, with a net worth of $5.6 billion. And speaking of Betsy DeVos, her family is richer than the man who brought her to Washington, D.C., — President Donald Trump, whose net worth was estimated at $3.5 billion by the magazine, down $1 billion from a year ago.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates again topped the list for the fourth year in a row with a fortune of $86 billion, up from $75 billion last year, the magazine said.

“It was a record year for the richest people on Earth, as the number of billionaires jumped 13 percent to 2,043 from 1,810 last year, the first time ever that Forbes has pinned down more than 2,000 ten-figure-fortunes,” Forbes said. “Their total net worth rose by 18% to $7.67 trillion, also a record. The change in the number of billionaires — up 233 since the 2016 list — was the biggest in the 31 years that Forbes has been tracking billionaires globally.”

Here’s how the Michigan billionaires fell on the Forbes list:

• Hank & Doug Meijer (No. 194), with a net worth of $7.2 billion (down from $8.2 billion last year): The Meijer brothers are co-chairs of the privately held grocery and retail chain founded by their grandfather/
• Marian Ilitch (No. 239), with a networth of $6 billion (up from $4.8 billion last year): Ilitch and her late husband co-founded the Little Caesars Pizza company, and also jointly or singularly owned the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Tigers and MotorCity Casino Hotel.
• Daniel Gilbert (No. 250), worth an estimated $5.8 billion (up from $4.9 billion last year): Gilbert controls about 40 companies led by Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. and owns the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team.
• Richard DeVos (No. 269), worth an estimated $5.6 billion (up from $4.7 billion last year): DeVos co-founded the direct-selling giant Amway, owns the Orlando Magic NBA team and is a minority owner of the Chicago Cubs MLB team.
• Ronda Stryker (No. 385), of Portage, worth an estimated $4.4 billion (up from $3.6 billion last year): The Stryker family’s corporation makes replacement joints and other medical devices. Her brother also made the list, as did one of the company’s former executives.
• John Brown (No. 745), of Portage, worth an estimated $2.7 billion (up from $2.1 billion last year): Brown is the former chairman of Stryker Corp., running the company until his retirement in 2009.
• Jon Stryker (No. 814), of Kalamazoo, worth an estimated $2.5 billion (up from $1.9 billion last year): Stryker pours much of his wealth into his charity, the Arcus Foundation, which supports LGBT and protection for great apes.
• William Young (No. 973), of Ypsilanti, worth an estimated $2.1 billion (up from $1.5 billion last year): He founded Plastipak with his father in 1967, sold it to Beatrice Foods for an undisclosed amount six years later, bought it back in 1982 and, three decades later, sold a minority stake to Goldman Sachs.
• Roger Penske (No. 1290), of Birmingham, worth an estimated $1.6 billion (up from $1.4 billion last year): Penske, a retired auto racer, owns the Penske Auto Group, a publicly traded company.
• Martha Ford (No. 1376), worth an estimated $1.5 billion (up from $1.3 billion last year): Ford, the daughter of Harry Firestone and widow of the William Clay Ford (Henry Ford’s grandson), is an owner of the Detroit Lions.
• Manuel “Matty” Moroun (No. 1376), of Detroit, worth an estimated $1.5 billion (down from $1.3 billion last year): His family controls the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit and several trucking firms.

The complete Forbes billionaires list can be found here.

Photo by Miram Rijavec via Flickr Commons