Diane Hendricks

Diane Marie Hendricks (born 1947) is an American billionaire businesswoman and film producer from Wisconsin.[2] She is the widow of the late businessman Ken Hendricks.[2][3]

Diane Hendricks
Born
Diane Marie Smith

1947 (age 73–74)
Wisconsin, U.S.
OccupationCo-founder and chair, ABC Supply
Net worthUS$8 billion (September 2020)[1]
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Ken Hendricks (deceased)
Children7

Early life

Hendricks was born and raised in Wisconsin,[3] the daughter of dairy farmers. She graduated from Osseo-Fairchild High School in 1965, and had been divorced from her first husband for ten years when she met Ken Hendricks.[4]

Career

In 1975, she was selling custom-built homes and Ken was a roofing contractor. They married and became business partners. In 1982, they used their lines of credit to secure a loan that enabled them to establish ABC Supply, a company that sells roofing, windows, gutters, and siding for residential and commercial buildings.[4]

Hendricks owns the Hendricks Holding Company, and is the owner and chairperson of ABC Supply.[2][5][6] In March 2012, Forbes estimated her net worth at US$2.8 billion,[5] and $7.8 billion as of July 2020.[1][3][7][8] In 2018, Forbes ranked Hendricks the US's richest self-made woman.[9]

Philanthropy

She is a donor to WisconsinEye, and co-chair of Rock County 5.0, a five-year public/private initiative to advance Rock County's economic development vision.[2][6] She has served on the boards of the Stateline Boys & Girls Club, Beloit Memorial Hospital, the Beloit Foundation, Forward Janesville, Kandu Industries, Blackhawk Bank, and the Hendricks Family Foundation. Hendricks serves on the board of trustees of Beloit College.[2]

Hollywood producer

She has produced movies, including The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008), about an execution in an Iranian village, An American Carol, (2008), and Snowmen, (2010).[6][10][11][12][13]

Political donations

She donated $500,000 to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's 2012 campaign to avoid recall, and was his biggest donor that year.[5] She also supports Paul Ryan.[6] In 2014, she donated $1 million to the Freedom Partners Action Fund, a pro-Republican Super PAC created by the Koch Brothers.[14] In both 2015 and 2016, she donated $2 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund.[15] In 2015, she gave $5 million to a PAC associated with presidential candidate Scott Walker, but has had $4 million refunded.[16]

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, she gave over $5 million to the Reform America Fund, a super PAC which has opposed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and supported Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin Ron Johnson.[17] Hendricks served as an economic advisor to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.[18][19]

Prior to Scott Pruitt's resignation in July 2018, she donated $50,000 to the Scott Pruitt Legal Expenses Trust.[20]

Hendricks contributed to the campaign of Georgia representative and conspiracy theorist, Marjorie Taylor Greene.[21] Greene has expressed support for discredited theories such as QAnon and Pizzagate, and has supported the idea of executing Democrats, as well as falsehoods regarding school shootings.[22]

Tax controversies

Hendricks paid no state income tax in four of the five years from 2010 to 2014.[23]

An investigation by Urban Milwaukee found that Hendricks's multi-story 8,500-square-foot home in the Town of Rock in Rock County, Wisconsin had been assessed as a 1,663-square-foot ranch.[24] Following the Urban Milwaukee investigation, Hendricks denied the tax assessor access to the property, citing "security reasons". After she agreed to supply the assessor with data on the home, the property's assessment was changed from $445,700 to $1,205,500.[25]

Personal life

She has seven children, and lives in Afton, Wisconsin.[2][3]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Diane Hendricks". Forbes. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  2. "Our Team: Diane Hendricks". Hendricks Holding Co., Inc. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  3. "Diane Hendricks Net Worth". CelebrityNetWorths. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  4. Zipkin (as told to), Amy (November 21, 2009). "The Business Must Go On". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  5. Spivak, Cary (May 30, 2012). "Beloit billionaire pays zero in 2010 state income tax bill". Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  6. Romell, Rick (December 25, 2010). "Widow a power in Beloit, beyond". Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  7. Ten Questions For Diane Hendricks, Forbes, 11.04.10
  8. "Diane Hendricks". Forbes. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  9. "America's Richest Self-Made Women". Forbes. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  10. "Diane Hendricks Producer". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  11. Dickinson, Hilary (May 24, 2010). "Hollywood comes to Beloit". Beloit Daily News. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  12. Holden, Stephen (June 25, 2009). "An Iranian Village Mob and a Wife's Execution". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  13. McCarthy, Todd (October 4, 2008). "An Iranian Village Mob and a Wife's Execution". Variety. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  14. Vogel, Kenneth; Allen, Mike (October 14, 2014). "Koch donors uncloaked". Politico. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  15. "Freedom Partners Action Fund Contributors, 2016 cycle". OpenSecrets. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  16. "Million-Dollar Donors in the 2016 Presidential Race". The New York Times. February 9, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  17. Bice, Daniel (October 25, 2016). "Bice: 5 donors pump $1.7 million into pro-Johnson PAC". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  18. Arnsdorf, Isaac (October 27, 2016). "Another super PAC spends millions against Clinton". Politico. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  19. Titus, Elizabeth (August 16, 2016). "Trump adds Hendricks Scaramucci as Economic Policy Advisors". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  20. Guillén, Alex. "Pruitt legal fundraising started months before his exit". POLITICO. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  21. "Wisconsin billionaire Hendricks donated to QAnon believer Greene". Wisconsin Examiner. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  22. "Here's Every Disturbing Conspiracy Marjorie Taylor Greene Believes In". www.vice.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  23. Cary Spivak. "Beloit billionaire posts string of zeros on state returns". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 9, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  24. Horne, Michael (May 17, 2017). "Hendricks Not Paying Property Taxes?". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  25. Murphy, Bruce (June 1, 2017). "Hendricks' Home Is Reassessed". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
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