Popularly known for being a state in the mountain west subregion of the Western U.S. It is bordered by Colorado toward the East, Wyoming toward the Northwest, Idaho by the North, and Arizona, and Nevada by the South and West respectively. Having a diversified economy, majoring in education, transportation, research, mining, tourism, and information technology sectors. Utah is ranked among the best states in the U.S. in terms of infrastructure, healthcare, governance, and education.
More than half of the Utahns are members of the Latter-day Saints with its headquarters in Salt Lake City. The church influences the Utahns’ cultures, politics, and lifestyles. It is the only state whose majority of its population belongs to the same church.
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The Richest Person In Utah And Their Net Worth
Utah is home to a few wealthy people with Provo having the most number of billionaires. According to Forbes, the gross product of the state is worth $118 billion. Are you wondering who the richest people in Utah are?
Here is a list of the richest people in Utah and their net worth in no particular order.
1. Karen Gail Miller
Miller is an American businesswoman. She became the Chairperson of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies (LHM Group) after the death of her husband, Larry. Born on 14th October 1943 in Sandy, Utah. She got married to her late husband Larry Miller on 25th March 1965 and gave birth to five children.
Although she inherited her wealth from her husband, it is never forgotten that they both built the empire. She is the richest person in Utah with an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion. The LHM Group owns a chain of movie theatres and the Utah Jazz. She sold the Utah Jazz a franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in Salt Lake City in 2020 while still holding a minority stake.
Their car dealership started in early 1979. They bought and renamed a Toyota car dealership. The LHM Group Owns 54 car dealerships. In 2019, their dealership was estimated to make sales of about $5.4 billion. Asbury Automotive 2021 purchased the car dealership for $3.2 billion with the condition that it retains the branding of LHM Group.
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The LHM Group in January 2021 purchased Advance Health care (AHC) in a bid to diversify its business portfolio. The purchasing price was undisclosed due to unknown reasons. The AHC is a high-end nursing home that runs 22 facilities, having six in Utah and others in California, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Kansas, and Idaho.
Miller and her late husband 2017 established the Larry H & Gail Miller Family Foundation. The foundation 2021 donated $30,000 to kids for Christmas through the Jordan foundation. A $50 million donation was made as a start for a $500 million fundraiser for Intermountain Healthcare(IHC), a non-profit group of hospitals that cater to children.
The Salt Lake Chambers presented her with the ATHENA International Award in 2012, which was sponsored by Wells Fargo. The Chambers also presented her with the most prestigious award in Utah The Giant in our City award. In 2019, she received the Horizon Award for her community work, she was named “Utahn of the year” in the same year by The Salt Lake Tribune.
2. Clayton Christensen
Copyright by World Economic Forum
swiss-image.ch/Photo Remy Steinegger
His birth name is Clayton Magley Christensen. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on 6th April 1952. He died on 23rd January 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts, the U.S. from complications of leukemia. He got married to his wife Christine in 1976 and they had five children, two girls, and three boys.
He was an American academician, author, and business consultant famous for his theory of “disruptive innovation”. Christenson is the author of ten best-selling books. His book The Innovator’s Dilemma in 1997 introduced the theory. The book received the award of Best Business Book of the Year for the Global Business Book Awards.
He got a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University, and a Master’s in Philosophy from Queen’s College, Oxford. He got an MBA and DBA from Harvard University.
He co-founded a venture capital firm Rose Park Advisors and founded Innosight an investment and management consulting firm. He was a leader at the Latter-day Saints Church (LDS Church). He has a whopping net worth of over $2.1 billion.
3. Ryan Smith
Borm in 1977 in Eugen, Oregon U.S., Ryan is an American businessman and the co-founder of the company Qualtics located in Provo, in which he is the executive chairman. He co-founded the company with his father and brother.
He is married to Ashley Smith and has five children who all live in Provo. He is a graduate of Brigham University and also a member of the LDS church and had spent two years in Mexico on a missionary assignment.
Ryan is one of the richest people in Utah with an estimated net worth of over $1.6 billion. Fortune Magazine listed him as the 40 most successful businessmen in the U.S.
He is a shareholder of two professional sports teams. He purchased the Utah Jazz NBA franchise from Gail Miller in 2020 for a whopping $1.66 billion.
4. Eccles Family
Although the exact net worth of the family is unknown due to reasons best known to them. You know the Eccles family is one of the richest families/people in Utah when they have given over $1 billion worth of donations.
David Eccles was born on 12th May 1849 in Scotland, United Kingdom. He was an American industrialist and businessman who was Utah’s first multi-millionaire. He moved from Glasgow to the U.S. in 1863. He is the founder of many businesses in the state like Utah Construction Company, Utah Electric Company, Union Pacific Railroad, and Amalgamated Sugar Company among others.
He died in Salt Lake City, Utah on 6th December 1912. He was lost to a heart attack while being the president of 7 banks, 16 industrial corporations and also Director at over 24 banks and industries at the time. He is succeeded by his wife Bertha Marie Jensen and nine children including Marriner Stoddard Eccles and George S. Eccles and grandchildren.
He was a mayor of the Ogden City council from 1888 to 1890. He invested $4-7 million which he made mostly from his Oregon enterprise into buying stocks from banks, factories, mills, mines, railroads, insurance, and many other companies.
His grandson David Eccles is a successful financier, philanthropist, and chairman of the Wells Fargo Corporation which he purchased for $2.9 billion in Utah His son Marriner Stoddard Eccles was an economist and chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The Eccles Building in Washington D.C was named after him, it houses the National Reserve. His other son George S. Eccles is the founder and CEO of Security Corporation and he also owns a foundation George S. And Dolores Fire Eccles Foundation.
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5. Jon Huntsman Jr.
He is the son of Jon Huntsman Sr. Who was the richest man in Utah during his time before he died. Huntsman is a businessman and a politician. He was the elected governor of Utah I (20014-2009). He was a United States presidential candidate under the Republican party in 2012 he later withdrew from the race and nominated Mitt Romney.
He was the U.S. ambassador to Singapore during President George H.W. Bush, the U.S. ambassador to China during Barack Obama’s regime (2009-2011), and the U.S. ambassador to Russia (2017-2019).
It’s no surprise his net worth is estimated to be about $950 million being the chairman and CEO of his late father’s company Huntsman corporation and Huntsman Holdings corporation. He was a vice-chair of policy at Ford Motor Company among others.
6. Whitney Wolfe Herd
Born in July 1989 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Micheal and Kelly Wolfe. She got married to Micheal Herd whom she met in 2013 and got married in 2017. The couple announced the birth of their first child in 2019. Wolfe attended Southern Methodist University and majored in international studies.
She started a business in college at age 20 where she sold bamboo tote bags. The bag business made massive sales and got national press. Some celebrities like Nicole Richie were seen with the bag in photographs. She later introduced a clothing line “Tender Heart” to raise awareness about human trafficking.
In 2012, while she was 22, she joined a startup project led by Sean Rad which was later abandoned. She later joined the developing team of the dating app Tinder along with Rad and Chris Gulczynski where she later became the vice president of marketing.
She resigned from Tinder in 2014, filed a lawsuit against them for sexual harassment, and got $1 million and stocks as a settlement.
She moved to Texas in 2014 and founded the female dating app Bumble in partnership with the founder of Badoo Andrey Andrew. In 2019, MagicLab which happens to be Bumble’s parent company was sold at about $3 billion, making Andreev relinquish his stakes at Badoo and Bumble.
Wolfe became the CEO of MagicLab owning a 19% stake in the company. As of September 2019, Bumble was the second most popular dating app in the U.S. having 5 million users monthly. As of 2020, it has over 100 million subscribers globally.
Wolfe Herd has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion which is said to double in the next five years. Her company is valued at $13 billion as of 2021 after listing shares on the NASDAQ exchange. She is currently the youngest, female self-made billionaire.
7. Graig Venter
Yes, you got it right. He is the first person in the world to have his DNA sequenced which was one of the greatest discoveries and scientific accomplishments of the 20th century. Born in Salt Lake City Utah to John Center and Elizabeth. He grew up in Millbrae, California, close to today’s Silicon Valley.
He is an American businessman and a well-known biotechnologist who owns three companies J. Craig Venture Institute, Institute for Genomic Research, and Celera Genomics. His hobbies are traveling the world and creating synthetic life. He attended two community colleges and the University of California where he initially wanted to be a doctor but discovered and picked an interest in science and got a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry in 1972. He has a Ph.D. in pharmacology and physiology and was a professor in 1976 at the University of New York.
Venter has a net worth of about $300 million. He was elected into the American Philosophy Society and also a member of the advisory board of the USA Science and Engineering Festival.
His new firm Human Longevity has an ongoing ambitious project aimed at uncovering how to use and unlock the DNA and finding a way to stay alive longer for years or even decades. The project has raised over $300 million from investors. The project if successful might probably earn him a Noble Prize as the first did not, earn him billions of dollars, and awe top, respected, and reputable scientists.
He is the author of two books A Life Decided and Life at the Speed of Light. He has won quite a number of Awards.
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Conclusion
Utah is home to quite many billionaires and multimillionaires. Some of which are self-made inherited from a spouse or parent and to some, it’s generational wealth.
Who says hard work doesn’t pay off? Well, the Richy rich of Utah have proved that they have acquired a such great fortune through hard work in their various fields.
