Richard DeVos

Richard DeVos, Sr. co-founded Amway Corp. and is owner of the Orlando Magic, NBA franchise. DeVos and wife Helen run the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, a conservative foundation and grant making body formed in 1970. He served as the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. According to Forbes, he is the 60th richest person in the U.S. with US$5 billion in 2012.

Money to conservative causes
He has been associated with various Christian and conservative organizatons, such as the Council for National Policy, the Free Congress Foundation, and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy. His grantmaking to foundations reflects these conservative Christian affiliations.

According to FEC records, Richard DeVos gave $2 million to the conservative Progress for America Voter Fund.

Between 1999 and 2001 the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation donated $12,159,101 to conservative groups such as Focus on the Family, the State Policy Network, and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

Campaign Contributions
DeVos and wife Helen donated the maximum $2,500 to Newt Gingrich's bid for the 2012 GOP Presidential nomination. They also donated $5,500 to his American Solutions PAC.

Devos is the only Forbes 400 member to contribute to Rick Santorum's bid for office. He donated the maximum $2,500 in July.

Recognition
DeVos was acknowledged at the privately held Koch seminar in June 2011 in Vail, Colorado for donating at least $1 million to Koch-related causes.

In 1993, ALEC gave its "Adam Smith Free Enterprise Award" to billionaire Richard DeVos, a leading proponent and financier of school privatization efforts.

Family Ties
Richard DeVos's son Dick DeVos was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Michigan Governor in 2006. Dick is now president of Amway. He is married to Betsy DeVos, the daughter of Elsa Prince Broekhuizen who contributed $450,000 toward the 2008 effort to ban same-sex marriages in California. Betsy is the sister of Erik Prince who is the founder of private military corporation Blackwater USA.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Betsy DeVos
 * Dick DeVos
 * Jay Van Andel
 * Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation
 * Elsa Prince Broekhuizen
 * Nutrilite

External articles

 * Rachel Burstein and Kerry Lauerman, "She Did It Amway", MotherJones, September/October 1996.
 * "Tough Sell: Richard DeVos (#165)", MotherJones, 1996.
 * Steven Harmon, "DeVos creates buzz as GOP meets here", The Grand Rapids Press, February 5, 2005.
 * Marcy Wheeler, "Dick DeVos Is a Welfare Queen," The Next Hurrah Blog, November 12, 2007.

External resources

 * The Presidential Prayer Team 2003, "American Inspirations Award April 2003 Richard DeVos", undated, accessed April 2004.
 * Person: Richard DeVos, Forbes.com, October 2004.