Richard DeVos, Amway founder and philanthropist, has died

Billionaire Richard DeVos, co-founder of direct-selling giant Amway, owner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, philanthropist, and Republican donor, died Thursday. He was 92. DeVos built a fortune in the direct sales business with Amway, which he started with his friend Jay Van Andel in 1959 in Ada, Mich. As his wealth grew, he invested in the Grand Rapids, Mich., community and donated to colleges and hospitals in the state. The DeVos family bought the Magic in 1991. “The Lord was good to me and I gotta go out and try and tell how good God is,” DeVos once said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “I’d like to be remembered by enjoying the time we were given here by loving what the good Lord gave us, and we did the best we could with it.” DeVos, whose wife, Helen, died in 2017, is survived by five children, including Dick DeVos, the husband of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.