Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel

Jay Van Andel was born in June 3-1924  was an American businessman, best known as co-founder of the Amway Corporation. He also served as chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 1979 to 1980 and later as a member of its Senior Council from 1980 to 1985. He was also known for funding religious missions and conservative political causes, including the Republican Party. Entrepreneur.

 Amway, the company co-founded by Jay Van Andel, grew into one of the most impressive—and controversial—success stories in American entrepreneurship. Van Andel was the architect of Amway's alluring direct-marketing strategy of selling consumer goods through a network of personal contacts, though the company sometimes attracted unfavorable attention from consumer-watchdog groups. Along with longtime business partner Richard DeVos, Van Andel was one of Michigan's most prominent business leaders, and a generous contributor to Republican Party and conservative political causes. Van Andel was born in 1924 in Grand Rapids, a city in western Michigan that in the late nineteenth century had become a mecca of sorts for Dutch immigrants who belonged to an evangelical Protestant sect, the Christian Reformed Church. At the city's Christian High School, Van Andel met DeVos, and teamed with him to start a flight school after returning from service in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

 They opened a drive-in restaurant that made butter-fried hamburgers from their mothers' recipes, but later sold both businesses and bought a schooner to sail the Caribbean. They had planned to launch a sea-going business with it, but the vessel was wrecked near Cuba and they returned to Grand Rapids. Back home, Van Andel and DeVos set up an import business, and also sold a food supplement called Nutrilite for its manufacturer. Using what they learned from selling that to friends and family, they founded Amway in the basement of Van Andel's house in 1959 with L.O.C., an all-purpose household cleaner. Their company moniker was short for "the American way," and relied on a multilevel direct marketing scheme. New sales recruits would buy a shipment of the products, and sell them to others at a markup price as an independent distributor.

 The key to success, however, was to recruit others to join the growing sales force; in return, independent distributors would receive a percentage of the profits from what their recruits sold. Van Andel wrote all the sales and marketing materials himself in the early days of Amway, which grew to include self-help books and motivational tapes. These, too, would be sold to new recruits by the independent distributors, and the range of Amway-brand products grew to include nearly every consumer product, from soap to vitamins. Amway's blend of free-enterprise basics and motivational selling was not without its detractors, and some dissatisfied members claimed the company operated what was essentially a large-scale scam. It was investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for a number of years, but the founders' connections to a Grand Rapids-born Republican who went to the White House in 1974, Gerald R. Ford, helped it avoid further inquiries. Amway failed to elude an investigation by the Canadian government, however, which in 1983 brought tax-evasion charges against it for misstating the value of goods that crossed the U.S.-Canadian border. Amway paid a fine that totaled $58 million, the largest ever levied in Canadian history. Amway expanded internationally, and gained a particularly large number of members in China and other Asian countries during the 1990s. The company eventually changed its name to Alticor and was thought to be valued at $6.2 billion by 2004. Van Andel retired as company chair in 1995, and continued to devote himself to philanthropic causes. Both he and DeVos gave generously to various Grand Rapids cultural institutions, and among the many projects that bear the Van Andel name is the Van Andel Institute, dedicated to education and medical research. He also funded an Arizona facility hoping to prove, through scientific methods, that the world was created by a supreme being in six days, as the Christian Bible asserts. He was also an enthusiastic donor to Republican Party coffers, and during the 2004 presidential campaign donated $2 million to Progress for America, an organization which produced a series of television ads that questioned the values and experience of Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry.

 Van Andel was married to Betty Hoekstra of Grand Rapids in 1952, with whom he had four children. She died in January of 2004 on a private island the family owned in the British Virgin Islands, and later that year Van Andel spent his final weeks there, too. He returned to Michigan and died at his home in Ada, Michigan, on December 7, 2004, age 80, after suffering from Parkinson's disease for a number of years. His is survived by his sons Steve and Dave, his daughters Nan and Barb, and ten grandchildren. His personal fortune was estimated by Forbes at $2.9 billion. "For me, the greatest pleasure comes not from the endless acquisition of material things, but from creating wealth and giving it away," he wrote in his 1998 autobiography, An Enterprising Life, according to Adam Bernstein in the Washington Post."The task of every person on earth is to use everything he's given to the ultimate glory of God." Sources: Grand Rapids Press, December 8, 2004, p. A7; Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2004, p. B8; New York Times, December 8, 2004, p. A29; Washington Post, December 8, 2004, p. B6.

 

Richard Marvin DeVos Sr. Was born in March 4, 1926 was an American billionaire businessman, co-founder of Amway with Jay Van Andel (company restructured as Alticor in 2000), and owner of the Orlando Magic basketball team. In 2012, Forbes 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.

DeVos was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Ethel Ruth and Simon Cornelius DeVos, who worked in the electrical business. He was educated at Calvin College and was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. He served in the military in World War II in the United States Army Air Corps.

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 operation in 1997. 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.

In 1949, he and friend Jay Van Andel took $49 and invested the modest amount into manufacturer and vitamin direct-seller Nutrilite. They became independent vitamin distributors and later used the company's person-to-person selling approach when starting Amway in Ada with an all-purpose household cleaning product.

They coined the name Amway as an abbreviation of "American Way." Over five decades, Amway became a multibillion-dollar international corporation. Van Andel died in 2004.

"Rich and my father built this company from the ground up, and in many ways Rich was the heart and soul of Amway," said Steve Van Andel, Amway's chair. "His vision and spirit inspired our employees and independent business owners for more than 50 years.

Michigan's Republican governor described DeVos as "an incredible businessman, philanthropist and true Michigander."

"The positive impact Rich had on our state is truly immeasurable," Rick Snyder said Thursday. "Through successful business ventures and charitable endeavors, he created endless opportunities for residents of many different ages and backgrounds. Rich's giving spirit is how we will always remember him, and his legacy is certain to live on forever."

Former President George W. Bush called DeVos "one of the great entrepreneurs -- and great Americans -- of our time."

"He used his business to empower others and advance the universal values of freedom, opportunity, compassion, and personal responsibility," Bush said. "Rich made his country and his community better, and he was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather."

DeVos, who served as Amway's president until 1993, also was involved in the NBA, buying the Magic from a group headed by Orlando real estate developer William duPont III in 1991 for $70 million.

"Mr. DeVos' boundless generosity, inspirational leadership and infectious enthusiasm will always be remembered," Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a statement. "Simply, he was the team's No. 1 cheerleader and the best owner that a Magic fan could ever want for their team."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said DeVos formed a deep bond with the city of Orlando, "and whether hosting the finals or All-Star festivities, he was always incredibly welcoming to the NBA family."

Amway was not without controversy. The Federal Trade Commission charged in 1969 that the company was an illegal pyramid scheme, but ruled after a six-year investigation that it wasn't.

Amway also has been controversial because of its almost evangelical zeal in promoting free enterprise, and gained attention with DeVos' and Jay Van Andel's high-profile participation in Republican politics. DeVos was a major supporter of the Republican Party and was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the Presidential Commission on AIDS in 1987.

DeVos and his late wife, Helen, also donated to Christian churches and ministries and various other causes through their Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation.

DeVos also supported Grand Valley State University in Allendale. In the 1970s, he served on its governing board. He later became president of the university's foundation board.

"Rich gave so much of himself to Grand Valley. His enthusiasm and vision were contagious, and drew the entire community together to help provide a world-class education to West Michigan citizens," Grand Valley State President Thomas J. Haas said in a written statement.

DeVos and Van Andel also helped revitalize downtown Grand Rapids, and many buildings and institutions in the city bear the names of the men or their company.

"I give because the Lord told me to give. But more than that, I give here because this is our town," DeVos told WOOD-TV in 2011. "The town doesn't owe me anything. I grew up here and I was blessed to grow up here and it's a good place to be."

He graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School and attended Calvin College. DeVos served from 1944-46 in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

His son, Dick, is married to Betsy DeVos, who was appointed Education Secretary by President Donald Trump. He is also survived by three other children, two sisters and a number of grandchildren.