Meet the billionaire As more and more Americans ship everything everywhere, sellers of packaging materials and industrial supplies are doing well.
Meet the billionaire No one spread the stuff more than Richard Uline, 76, heirs to the Schlitz beer fortune, and his wife Elizabeth, 77, who co-founded a Uline company in their basement in 1980. Today, they lead the company. According to Forbes estimates, based in Wisconsin as CEO and president, they each make about $6.1 billion in annual sales, small to make the pair worth $4 billion each.
They may not be known across the country, but people know them in DC.
Both have contributed to Republican campaigns since the 1990s, averaging about $15,000 annually through 2009. In 2010, the Supreme Court condemned efforts to limit political spending with its decision in Citizens United v. FEC and some related cases. Since then, Uihlein has increased it’s giving each cycle and has reported more than $190 million in total political giveaways. Uihlein spent more than $70 million in the last election cycle on conservative causes. Thirty million went to PAC Restoration and PAC America, spending $18 million trying to re-elect Donald Trump. Another $27 million went into the open market Club for Growth Super PAC, a favorite of mega-shopping billionaire Jeff Yass.
Uihlein’s passion for politics permeates their business – even the company catalog. Between praise for her staff and announcements of boxes and bubbles, Elizabeth Uihlein asks a provocative question: Is America in decline? Will China take over? Are we spending too much on social programs? “Your family, your home, your garden, your little corner of the world – these are the things you can control and improve,” he wrote in a letter. “You can’t fix everything – the world’s problems are big.” But with enough money, you can try it.