Washington Life Magazine: June 2007:WEALTH LIST

most-invited with equanimity; after all, “You always get your way at Ourisman Chevrolet,” as the famous jingle goes. The $200 million in satisfi ed drivers began as a single, humble dealership at 21st and H St. run by dad Benjamin Ourisman in the 1920s; a good start, but it was his son who put it into overdrive and the $500 million revenue bracket.

HENRY M. PAULSON

Currently the secretary of the treasury – and the wealthiest member of the cabinet – Paulson is a former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs. Outdoors, he’s been chairman of the Nature Conservatory and a member of The Peregrine Fund. The committed environmentalist has quietly donated $100 million (of his personal wealth) to Bobolink, Goldman Sachs philanthropy foundation to preserve and educate the Nation about the environment. His passions are fi shing and bird watching. Too bad he’s not running the EPA or the Department of the Interior.

FRANK RAINES

A true success story, Raines, a janitor’s son from Seattle, graduated from Harvard College, Harvard Law School and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. To accept the post as Bill Clinton’s budget director, he had to leave Fannie Mae, where he was chairman and CEO, but returned after his public service. He was one of the fi rst African-Americans to head a Fortune 500 company. The accounting scandal and ongoing SEC investigation that caused him to be ousted by the Fannie Mae board has tainted his record, but it hasn’t diminished his many accomplishments. And the company’s non-profi t charitable organization is one of the biggest in the country.

W. RUSSELL RAMSEY

Named one of the top four “people to see” in the Washington fi nancial community by Newsweek, Ramsey was also a “baller” early in life, when he was sent to George Washington

University on a baseball scholarship. His $300 million fortune started gaining capital early on, as Ramsey co-founded Friedman, Billings and Ramsey LLC 20 years ago – and he’s only 46 today. Ramsey’s another NoVa real estate king, and he also shares common interests with Mark Warner; he was on the former governor’s PAC campaign to help elect Democrats nationally. Having resigned from the FBR in 2001, Ramsey currently is chairman and CEO of Ramsey Asset Management LLC – like so many of his millionaire pals, having made the money, he now focuses on managing

ALBERT G. VAN METRE

Virginia may be for lovers, but its real estate market was decidely for sellers these past few years. No one was as surprised – or as pleased, perhaps – as Van Metre Companies’ CEO Albert G. Van Metre, whose net worth rose by $70 million (to $250 million) between the 2005- 2006 year of boom and bloom alone. [“I’d] never seen anything like this, and I’ve been in business for 50 years,” he said, attributing the rise to record-low interest rates and soaring land values. Shopping, particularly in the NoVa retail resort complexes

WARNER’S A MODERN
day Faustus in terms of uncanny runs of good luck – an early investor in Nextel, he cleared the $200 million mark with room to spare.

the ducats of other dukes of fortune. Completing the made-man mold, Ramsey’s level of activity in charity work is staggeringly high – he’s a partner in music legend Quincy Jones’ “Rocking the Corps,” a staunch supporter of Big Brother/Big Sister, and participates tirelessly in Makea- Wish, School Night and Fight for the Children foundations. He’s a team player on and off the diamond.

PAUL C. SAVILLE

As far as Saville is concerned, locals can have their cake and eat it too; or, more appropriately, build their dream home and pay an affordable mortgage through the same company. Saville is CEO of NVR, Inc., which is engaged in the construction and sale of single-family homes and condominiums. NVR also operates a mortgage banking business. Founded in 1948, the company was originally tailor-made to suit the baby-boomermakers of World War II, but today has expanded to serve 18 metropolitan areas in 11 states.

strewn along the major arteries of transportation throughout the region, has never been more lucrative. Upon the 50th anniversary of his company, Van Metre Sr. donated over $600,000 to area charities, making the familyfocused business – son and stepson both hold management positions – community-focused as well.

MARK R. WARNER

Labeled a “New Democrat,” likely due to his Forward Together PAC chairmanship and support of

moderate-conservative “Blue Dogs” of the donkey party. Whatever the specifics of his alliances and their relative animal names, Warner ran and won the race for governor in his home state of Virginia in 2001. He proved immensely popular, with an approval rating over 8o percent; gossip is that if that pesky no back-to-back term law had been repealed, he’d be sitting in state as we speak. Warner’s a modern day Faustus in terms of uncanny runs of good luck – an early investor in Nextel, he cleared the $200 million mark with room to spare. A run for president in 2008 was allegedly turned down by this family man, who preferred to keep his brood of little Warners safe from the media machine. Interestingly enough, Warner remains staunchly against the same-sex marriage ban, having contributed $25,000 to the Commonwealth Coalition for that very issue.

JEFF ZIENTS

Unlike most kids whose parents threw away their valuable Topps baseball card collections, Jeff Zients got rich in spite of it. His entrepreneurial savvy showed itself early on; rather than passively getting cards as a by-product of bubble gum, Zients would call dozens of garage sales each weekend to sleuth out the most valuable collections. It’s small wonder that while he turned his hand at building two innovative research and consulting fi rms (which went public in 1999 and 2001 with blockbuster offerings) his heart would return to America’s pasttime.

As we stated at the outset (and despite our writers’, researchers’ and sources’ best efforts), compiling WL’s Wealth List was not an exact science. Like many of you, we wonder who may have slipped through the cracks, or what millionaires and billionaires may be fl ying under the radar. There are many names that make us wonder if their fortunes match their philanthropic contributions – Jim Abdo, Betty Brown Casey, Jack Davies, Miles Gilburne, Bob Kettler, Bill Melton, Rick Kay, Richa Hanlon Marc Leland, Gilbert Mead, Albert Small, Evan Jones and George Vradenburg could have all been included on the list based on their philanthropic efforts. We welcome your comments and suggestions at lists@washingtonlife.com.

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