Richard M. DeVos Sr.

A renowned speaker, Rich DeVos has appeared before hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. His recorded talk, “Selling America,” received the Alexander Hamilton Award for Economic Education from the Freedom’s Foundation. He has written four books: BELIEVE!,Compassionate Capitalism, Hope From My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life and most recently Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People.

In Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People, Rich DeVos shares how encouraging others with practical, but profound, phrases and making the decision to live with a positive attitude can change lives, our communities and even our world.

Richard (Rich) M. DeVos was born March 4, 1926 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He is a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School and attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids.  He served in the United States Air Force from 1944 to 1946.  In 1953, Mr. DeVos married the former Helen Van Wesep of Grand Rapids.  They have four children and sixteen grandchildren.

In 1949, Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel formed the Ja-Ri Corp. and began distributing products on a direct sales basis. In 1959, he founded Amway Corporation with Mr. Van Andel.

In October 2000, Amway became one of three subsidiaries under a new parent company called Alticor, along with two sibling companies: Quixtar Inc., an e-commerce business opportunity in North America; and Access Business Group LLC, a product development, manufacturing and logistics provider. In June 2007, Alticor announced it would reintroduce the Amway brand over the next two years to the North American market, as part of an overall business transformation.

In September of 1991, Mr. DeVos and his family acquired a National Basketball Association’s franchise, the Orlando Magic, of which he currently is Chairman.