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Menards founder John Menard Jr. is the wealthiest person in the state of Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal.
The newspaper reports that Menard’s net worth is $9.9 billion according to Forbes’ list of the 400 richest people in America. Eau Claire, Wisconsin, ABC affiliate WQOW reports that Menard’s wealth increased over last year, but he dropped a spot on the list to land at No. 47.
According to Forbes, Menard founded the private home improvement chain in 1964 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and the business now records about $9.5 billion in sales annually. The company operates about 306 stores in the western and midwestern U.S., Forbes reports.
Other home improvement industry executives to make the Forbes list are Bernard Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot, who has a reported net worth of $4.6 billion, and Eric Smidt, co-founder and CEO of Harbor Freight Tools, who Forbes reports is worth $2.1 billion.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos comes in at No. 2 ($81.5 billion) and the Walton siblings, owners of Walmart, are No. 13, No. 14 and No. 15 ($114.9 billion combined).
Hardware Retailing reported earlier this year on industry executives’ annual salaries for 2016. See the roundup here.
