# Dick DeVos Richard Marvin "Dick" DeVos Jr. (b. 1955) is the eldest son of [[Amway]] co-founder [[Richard DeVos]] and the *political-operational* head of the [[DeVos Family Ecosystem]]. Served as Amway's President and CEO from 1993-2002, then handed operational leadership to his younger brother [[Doug DeVos]]. Since leaving Amway's day-to-day in 2002, Dick has been the family's primary Michigan political architect, a major school-choice funder, and — increasingly after 2020 — the *dynastic strategist* coordinating the family's multi-state political operations. ## Political Career ### Michigan Ground Game (1990s-2000s) Dick and [[Betsy DeVos]] functioned as Michigan's most influential Republican operators from the late 1990s forward — Betsy as state GOP chair (1996-2000) and Dick as the primary donor/operator coordinating Michigan-specific political infrastructure. They underwrote the [[Mackinac Center]]'s rise into the single most effective [[State Policy Network]] affiliate in the country and funded the Great Lakes Education Project, Michigan's school-choice PAC (effectively a state-level AFC predecessor). ### 2000 Michigan Voucher Ballot Measure Dick and Betsy championed Proposal 1, the 2000 Michigan constitutional amendment that would have created school vouchers. Lost 69-31. This is the original data point establishing that public-vote school-choice politics is difficult even in red-leaning states when voters understand the policy clearly. The movement's subsequent pivot to *legislative* (not ballot) school-choice expansion is in part a lesson learned from this defeat. ### 2006 Gubernatorial Run Ran against Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2006, losing 56-42 in the middle of the Michigan auto-crisis recession. Spent over $35M personal money on the campaign — at the time the largest personal expenditure in Michigan gubernatorial history. The loss did not retire the family from Michigan politics; it catalyzed a decade-plus of infrastructure building. ### Michigan Right-to-Work (2012) Dick DeVos was a primary force in the 2012 Michigan RTW legislative push — an extraordinary policy victory given Michigan's union density and the UAW's political presence. Worked the Snyder-era legislature; the Mackinac Center's intellectual infrastructure provided the policy cover; DeVos political money provided the member pressure. The law passed in a lame-duck session in December 2012. **Reversed by the Democratic trifecta in 2023** — a reversal that Dick has publicly cited as a catalyst for the 2025-2026 DeVos Michigan rebuild effort. ### 2025-2026 Strategic Rebuild Per Detroit News reporting (May 19, 2025), Dick and Betsy are **building a new Michigan political operation ahead of the 2026 midterm**, with the goal of recapturing state-legislative majorities and competing seriously for the 2026 gubernatorial open seat (Whitmer term-limited). Led operationally by former state Rep. Shane Hernandez and former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel. Notably *not* channeled through the existing Michigan GOP apparatus — an explicit "build around" rather than "work within" approach after the family stopped giving to the MI GOP under its previous leadership. ### 2024 Cycle Dick and Betsy DeVos, Doug and Maria DeVos, and Dan and Suzanne DeVos all contributed to [[Elon Musk]]'s **[[America PAC]]** in 2024, supporting Trump's return. Doug and Maria contributed $500K; the cumulative family contribution to the Trump-supporting 2024 infrastructure was substantially larger via multiple vehicles. Notable given Betsy's January 7, 2021 resignation — the family did not extend personal distance from Trump into political distance in 2024. ## Business Career - **Amway President and CEO (1993-2002):** Ran the company through its period of peak international expansion into China (1995), where Amway remains one of the largest direct-sales operators. - **Windquest Group (1989-):** Family investment holding company, encompassing private equity, real estate, aviation (DeVos has been a pilot / aviation investor), and other family-office interests. Windquest is the primary vehicle through which Dick's personal business activity outside Amway runs. - **Trump I appointment:** Served on the **President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition** — a relatively minor federal role, but notable given the family's overall alignment with Trump I. ## Ideological Profile Dick's ideology mirrors Betsy's but is *less publicly forward* on the Christian-right framing and *more publicly forward* on the free-market framing. He is the family's Reagan-Friedman public face; Betsy is the family's Christian-movement public face; Doug is the family's Koch-libertarian public face; the patriarch Rich DeVos was all three at once. Reformed Calvinist theology, [[Hillsdale College]] board ties, and Reformed Church of America denominational home are all consistent with his wife and brothers. The differentiation is presentational, not substantive. ## Family Position - Eldest son of [[Richard DeVos]] and Helen DeVos - Husband of [[Betsy DeVos]] - Brother of [[Doug DeVos]] (Amway co-chair), Dan DeVos (DP Fox Ventures), Cheri DeVos Vander Weide - Brother-in-law of [[Erik Prince]] - Father of Rick DeVos (Start Garden founder), Elissa DeVos, Andrea DeVos, Ryan DeVos - Trustee of [[Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation]] and multiple family foundations ## See Also - [[DeVos Family Ecosystem]] — family network - [[Betsy DeVos]] — wife, education-movement partner - [[Richard DeVos]] — father, Amway co-founder - [[Doug DeVos]] — brother, Amway co-chair - [[Erik Prince]] — brother-in-law - [[Amway]] — family business - [[Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation]] - [[American Federation for Children]] - [[Hillsdale College]] - [[School Choice Ecosystem]]