AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin billionaire gave the graduating class of Morehouse College the best commencement speech ever, with a promise to create a grant that will eliminate the college seniors of their student loans.
This was Austinite and billionaire Robert F. Smith. He is one of six Austinites that made the 2018 Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. Thirty-eight Texans also ranked on this list.
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Forbes listed the following people as the richest Austinites:
Michael Dell
At #17 is Michael Dell, the chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies Inc. Dell merged with the computer storage giant EMC in 2016, which was estimated to be a $60 billion merger. According to Forbes, this was the largest technology acquisition ever.
Forbes rates Dell's "Philanthropy Score" to be a five and counts his "Total Lifetime Giving" as $1.563 billion. Forbes' Philanthropy Score is scored on a scale of one to five, with five being the most philanthropic. These scores are estimated by someone's total lifetime giving as well as how much of their fortune they have given away.
Robert F. Smith
Smith founded the private equity firm Vista Equity Partners in 2000, and ranks #163 on the Forbes list. Vista is one of the best performing private equity firms, posting annualized returns of 22% since inception, according to Forbes.
Smith was a Cornell graduate and pledged $50 million to the university in 2016. Smith has been ranked a Philanthropy Score as a four. Forbes did not calculate Smith's total lifetime giving.
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Bert "Tito" Beveridge
Beveridge is the founder of Tito's Vodka and ranks #179. According to Forbes, Tito's is one of the fastest growing spirits brands in America, originally started in 1997 with $90,000 borrowed using 19 credit cards. Beveridge got his first big break in 2001 after winning the World Spirits Competition.
Beveridge donates 100 percent of Tito's net proceeds from their online stores to nonprofits. Forbes has yet to rank Beveridge's Philanthropy Score.
Joseph Liemandt
At #271, Liemandt is known for founding Trilogy Software and is also the founder of ESW Capital, which is an investment firm that purchases software companies. His net worth is $3 billion and Forbes listed his Philanthropy Score as "not applicable."
John Paul DeJoria
DeJoria founded Patrón Spirits Co. and co-founded the hair care company John Paul Mitchell Systems. He ranks #316 on the Forbes list. DeJoria would sleep in his car and sell shampoo door-to-door before teaming up with Paul Mitchell in 1980, Forbes states.
Forbes ranks his Philanthropy Score to be a two out of five.
Thai Lee
The only Austin woman on the list, Lee ranks as #354. She is the CEO of $10 billion IT provider SHI International, which, according to Forbes, has more than 17,000 customers including Boeing and AT&T.
Forbes ranked her Philanthropy score one out of five.
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