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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
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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
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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.
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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 |
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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.
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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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