Forbes: Six Arizonans make America’s wealthiest list
Oct 24, 2017, 6:48 PM | Updated: Oct 25, 2017, 2:48 pm
PHOENIX — Six Arizonans secured spots on this year’s Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest people in America, a report released last week said.
Discount Tire founder Bruce Halle is the most prosperous person in the state with a net worth of $4.6 billion, according to the report.
Halle, 87, started with just six tires in his Ann Arbor, Michigan showroom in 1960. Since then, the company has grown to more than 900 stores in 28 states.
The tire and wheel retailer earned fame for its 1975 television commercial where an elderly lady throws a tire through a store window with the tagline, “if ever you’re not satisfied with one of our tires, please feel free to bring it back to us.”
The rubber commercial earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest-running television advertisement.
The Paradise Valley resident is no stranger to the prominent list. His name has appeared there on a regular basis over the past decade. This year, he landed at the 144th spot.
The Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation and the Diane Halle Center for Family Justice at Arizona State are two of the philanthropic organizations that have come from his business endeavors.
According to Forbes, Halle’s scholarship program has awarded more than $8.5 million since 2004 to help send 2,100 of his employees’ children to college.
The five other Arizonans to make the list – Joe and Mark Shoen of U-Haul; GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons; Anaheim Angels owner Arte Moreno and Campell’s Soup heir Bennett Dorrance.
