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With valet, tenting, décor, fl owers
and food, people are willing
to spend upwards of $500 per
person.” Washingtonians, restaurant
and hospitality consultant Linda
Roth says, have the reputation of
being willing “to pay more money
for better products.”
While consumption may be
getting a bit more conspicuous,
Washingtonians also are among the
most generous givers in the nation,
from big donors – think Venture
Philanthropy Partners, which
routinely hands out millions,
co-founded by Mario Marino,
former Va. Gov. John Warner and
Raul Fernandez, and elevated by
the efforts of a legion of other
founding investors such as Jack
Davies, Ted Leonsis, Steve Case
and Joe Robert, among others
(See WL May 2006) – down to
your next-door neighbors. City
residents give, on average, $2,926
per family (surpassed only by those
in Utah).
Add metropolitan Maryland
and Virginia, and the amount rises
another 10 percent, according to
a soon-to-be-released study by
Boston College’s Center on Wealth
and Philanthropy. We live in, notes
Boston College researcher John
Havens, “a culture of giving.”
In the following pages, we
chronicle wealth and honor the
philanthropic spirit of giving.
Through cross-referenced published
records and the trusty guidance |
of new and old reliable sources
(“The Banker,” “Money Bags” and
“The Accountant”) we offer our
best estimates of each person’s net
worth – a simple equation of what
they have minus what they owe.
While this is not an exact science,
it is a good indication of “who’s in
the money.”
Now show me the money ....
$10 BILLION AND OVER
JOHN FRANKLYN MARS,
FORREST EDWARD MARS JR.
AND JACQUELINE
BADGER MARS
No surprise that the recent
nationwide pet food recall did not
include PEDIGREE products. After
all, “Dogs Rule” – or such is the
trademark of Mars, Inc.’s expanding
pet food line. Mars has always placed
consumers – the two-legged kind
and, more recently, dogs and cats
– fi rst. John Mars is obsessed with
effi ciency, punctuality, and quality
(now you know why Uncle Ben’s
Rice doesn’t stick to the pot and
M&M’s don’t melt in your hands).
Best known as the world’s largest
confectioner, Mars has operations in
65 countries, producing $18 billionplus
in annual sales. Forrest and John
Mars are now retired, but continue
to oversee business from the board
room. Sister Jacqueline keeps busy
with another company, and she also
supports many theatrical productions,
including The WNO.
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$2 BILLION TO $10 BILLION
J. WILLARD “BILL” MARRIOTT
AND RICHARD AND
EDWIN MARRIOTT
The Hiltons may have the most
famous family member (or infamous,
if one correctly categorizes nightvision
soft porn and a pending DUI
incarceration), but the Marriotts
have the patent on class. J. Willard’s
Mormon upbringing on his family’s
sugar beet farm was the real deal as
far as the “simple life” – and, after a
muggy stop in our nation’s capital, he
ventured to quench its inhabitants’
thirst with wholesome A&W root
beer, purchasing the franchise in
1927 and opening a nine-stool
Hot Shoppe with his wife, Alice
Sheets Marriott. The dynasty which
followed saw son J. Willard Marriott,
Jr. become CEO in 1972, though his
father – true to his credo of “a man
should keep on being constructive”–
continued to keep “shoppe,” as it
were. In the late 1990s, the company
had 2,800 hotels worldwide, and
in 2005, Fortune Magazine named
Marriott International one of the
top 100 best companies to work for
(no. 89). In 1995, Marriott bought
the troubled Ritz-Carlton chain
for $331 million and brought it
back; by 1999, its revenues were
estimated at $1.4 billion. In 1993,
the Marriott brothers, who live in
Potomac, split the company: Richard
controls ownership of Host Hotels
and Resorts; Bill operates Marriott
International. Whether the Marriotts
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owe their successes to faith, fate or
Fortuna’s wheel, someone up there
likes them – or, at least, He or She
likes room service.
MITCHELL RALES AND
STEVEN M. RALES
The Rales brothers left their
father’s real estate firm and
founded Equity Group Holdings.
As co-chairmen of the Danaher
Corporation board, they’ve since
purchased and revamped numerous
small manufacturing companies
(more than three dozen in 25 years),
from Chicago Pneumatic Tool to
Western Pacifi c Industries. Mitchell,
who recently hosted The Charity
Works 100 Point Wine Dinner, is one
of the top-ten collectors of abstract
expressionists in the world and is a big
contributor to the National Gallery
of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum
and Sculpture Garden. Steven
contributes to politicians, primarily
to republicans like Dan Quayle, but
more recently to democrats like
Howard Dean. They’re estimated to
have over $2 billion each.
STEVE SCHWARZMAN
Schwarzman helped Harvard
MBA classmate George W. Bush
found a ballet society – to meet
girls. He’s managing director at
Lehman Brothers at age 31, then,
with partner, Peter G. Peterson, he
founded Wall Street investment house
Blackstone Group. Kennedy Center
chair Schwarzman recently hosted
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