In the republic At the national convention, many speakers were called “everyday Americans.” Tonight, that list of “everyday Americans” will include Diane Hendricks, the woman who has topped Forbes’ list of richest self-made women for seven consecutive years and has a net worth of $20 billion.
Hendricks has donated millions of dollars to support Donald Trump's political rise and played a key role in his stunning 2016 win in Wisconsin — before she got a huge tax break as a result of Trump's 2017 tax law. She is scheduled to speak at the convention on Thursday before Donald Trump formally accepts the Republican nomination for president.
The Wisconsin businesswoman, who made billions of dollars starting a roofing company with her late husband, doesn't exactly fit the mold of the average American.
The 77-year-old worked as a Playboy bunny to pay off her debts as a teenager. Now, her net worth is estimated at $20.9 billion. She owns a 9,500-square-foot multi-level home that is a testament to her Republican fervor, filled with statues of Ronald Reagan, photos of her and Donald Trump together, and a numbered print showing 10 Republicans drinking together, identical to the one Trump has hanging in the White House. Three Budweiser Clydesdale horses roam the lush grounds, Forbes reported. The horses are valued at $15,000 each.
The billionaire’s patriotism doesn’t stop there. Her company, ABC Supply, has been “realizing the American dream since 1982” since its founding, and calls “American pride” one of its seven core values. Fellow Republican Lee Greenwood regularly sings “God Bless the USA” at company events. The song also regularly appears in a video that is shown to all company executives.
Hendricks, the 93rd richest person in the world, has used her wealth to influence the election, much of it to Trump’s benefit. “Everyone knows I’m a conservative,” she told Forbes in 2022.
During the 2016 election cycle, Hendricks donated $8 million to the American Reform Fund, which spent $3.5 million attacking Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. The spending was concentrated in Wisconsin, where Clinton narrowly lost by 0.8 percent in a major upset that helped swing the election to Trump.
During the 2016 and 2020 elections, Hendricks donated $1.4 million to the Trump Victory Committee. In 2020, she donated $4 million to America First Action, the primary pro-Trump political action committee in that cycle. Hendricks also donated $5 million to the primary pro-Trump political action committee in this election cycle, Make America Great Again Inc.
Her past support for Trump has paid off handsomely. According to a report in ProPublica, Hendricks saved tens of millions as a result of a provision in Trump’s 2017 tax law designed to benefit large real estate owners through limited liability companies.
In the first year the provision was in effect, Hendricks took a $97 million deduction on her $502 million in income, saving her about $36 million in taxes, according to ProPublica. The agency said the tax cuts likely benefited Hendricks and the Uline family, major Republican donors who own the giant Uline cardboard box maker, more than anyone else in the country.
Hendricks won’t be the only billionaire scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention on Thursday. Linda McMahon, a major Trump donor who ran the Small Business Administration under Trump, will be next.
McMahon has donated millions of dollars to pro-Trump political action committees and currently chairs the board of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank.
