Magic owner DeVos, 92, dies
Amway co-founder bought team in ’91
Rich DeVos, a self-made billionaire who co-founded Amway and purchased the Orlando Magic in 1991, died Thursday in Ada, Mich., due to complications from an infection. DeVos was 92 years old. DeVos, who underwent a heart transplant in 1997 at the age of 71, attended some Magic home games during the 2017-18 season.
DeVos took over as the Magic’s owner when he purchased the franchise for $85 million from Orlando real estate developer William duPont III after duPont experienced financial difficulties.
Forbes recently estimated the Magic’s value at $1.225 billion, 19th out of 30 NBA teams. Forbes also approximated DeVos’ net worth at $5.4 billion, making him the world’s 351st wealthiest person, according to the magazine’s rankings.
In recent years, the DeVos family restructured its Magic ownership group through estate planning, Magic Chief Executive Officer Alex Martins said several years ago. The four children of Rich and Helen DeVos now own the largest stakes in the franchise, although ownership of the team also extends into other generations of the family, Martins said.
“Mr. DeVos’ boundless generosity, inspirational leadership and infectious enthusiasm will always be remembered. Simply, he was the team’s No. 1 cheerleader and the best owner that a Magic fan could ever want for their team,” Martins said in a statement released by the team Thursday. “When the DeVos Family purchased the Magic, his vision was that the team and organization would serve as a platform to improve the Central Florida community. That legacy will certainly live on, both in the Orlando Magic’s community efforts and philanthropic contributions, as well as in the way we strive to play the game with passion, a strong work ethic and integrity, while also bringing people together from all walks of life.”
Rich DeVos most recently held the title of senior chairman within the Magic hierarchy.
One of his sons, Dan, serves as the team’s chairman and represents the Magic on the NBA Board of Governors.
“Rich never gets the credit he deserves,” Magic cofounder and Senior Vice President Pat Williams once said when he was asked about Rich DeVos.
“He and his family could have owned a major-league sports team anywhere. They picked Orlando. Orlando had a man who was solid, stable, financially deep, community-oriented and generous, generous, generous.”
Magic officials have estimated that their charitable organization, the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation, has given more than $23 million to local nonprofit community organizations over the last 28 years.
DeVos was not without his critics. He caused a stir in 2001 when he said that local hoteliers needed to get their “grubby little fingers” off hotel-room taxes. DeVos wanted to use that revenue, in part, for a new arena for his team.
DeVos said that TD Waterhouse Centre, which opened in 1989 and later became known as Amway Arena, was outdated by NBA standards and said the Magic were losing money.
DeVos said: “Their attitude seems to be ‘don’t tamper with our pile of money here.’ We think they should let some of it go for the good of the community. It’s like they’ve got their grubby little fingers on it, and they don’t want to let it go. Maybe it’s time to invest it in a few new places.
“I can find an arena, but we’re in Orlando, and that’s where we want to be. The question is, ‘What does a new arena do for this town? How important are the Magic to Orlando?’ That’s something for the community to decide.”
A year later, DeVos stunned the city and his own players when he put the franchise up for sale.
“It’s time. I’m 76. I’ve had a wonderful run. I’ve had a ball. Our goal is to sell the entire team,” DeVos told the Orlando Sentinel then. “I’ve got priorities in my life. My priorities are my 15 grandchildren. This was a great thing for all of them. I wanted to pass it onto the family but I couldn’t make that work.”
Some politicos and fans wondered why a billionaire had to lean on taxpayers to build a new arena.
The 9-11 attacks and a sinking economy cooled arena talks for years.
Although he hinted the Magic might leave town, DeVos kept a low profile and turned over the campaign for a new arena to Martins.
Eventually, the Magic landed a new building that kept the franchise in town but not until after a tense battle. The project was approved in the summer of 2007, and the $485 million Amway Center opened in the fall of 2010. The Magic said the DeVos family contributed more than $100 million to the effort.
DeVos also received criticism for championing conservative causes.
During a 2009 interview with The Grand Rapids Press, he was asked about a $100,000 donation he made to help defeat the recognition of gay marriage in Florida.
“That’s just a sacred issue of respecting marriage,” DeVos answered. “It was not an anti-gay thing.”
“Call it anything you want to,” he also said. “But marriage is a sacred document, OK? A sacred sacrament in the church and in the world. Don’t mess with it.
“Go do something else. I deal with a lot of wonderful gay people. I hire a lot of them. I use a lot of them. I respect them. They’re terrific. I am good friends with them. But you live your life the way you want to live and I’ll live mine and I won’t stick my nose in yours. But don’t keep trying to change things. That’s all.”
DeVos experienced ups and downs as an NBA owner.
The Magic drafted Shaquille O’Neal with the No. 1 pick in 1992, and O’Neal led the club to the NBA Finals in 1995. But O’Neal left as a free agent in the summer of 1996, joining the Los Angeles Lakers, after O’Neal felt the Magic initially lowballed him on a contract offer.
Misery repeated itself in 2012.
This time, Dwight Howard, the No. 1 pick in 2004 who led the team to the NBA Finals in 2009, forced a trade in a messy controversy.
During Howard’s last two seasons, the team’s battle cry was to win a championship for their aging owner.
“I want to give Rich DeVos the trophy and have a parade down Orange Avenue,” Howard said.
DeVos had a history of health problems dating to 1983, when he had a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery. In a two-year span, beginning in the summer of 1992, he suffered a stroke and had a second heart attack.
He was on his deathbed when he headed to London in 1997 to receive a heart transplant at 71. The donor was a 39-year-old woman who was killed in a car accident.
In his book, “Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People,” the devoutly religious DeVos wrote, “At the age of 71, I needed a heart transplant to stay alive.
“We called every heart center in the country, but because of my age no one would take me. … Fortunately, after five months of waiting, I received my new heart. The transplant operation was another lesson in trusting the hand of God upon my life.”
DeVos originally became familiar with the Central Florida area during Orlando’s drive to bring a Major League Baseball team to town, a campaign that Williams also shepherded. Baseball expansion didn’t come to Orlando, but Williams kept DeVos in mind when the Magic needed another owner.
In 2016, the Magic inducted DeVos into their hall of fame.
DeVos had support along the way.
In 1953, he married Helen June Van Wesep, and their marriage lasted 64 years.
Helen DeVos died last October following a stroke and a diagnosis of leukemia.
Rich DeVos’ story is the epitome of the American dream.
In 1959, out of a garage, he and a former high-school classmate, Jay Van Andel, founded Amway, a direct-selling company specializing in health, beauty and homecare products.
DeVos is survived by four children and their spouses — Dick and Betsy, Dan and Pamella, Cheri and Doug and Maria — by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of Rich DeVos’ daughters-in-law is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who was appointed to the Cabinet by President Donald Trump.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to Grand Rapids Christian School Association, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, or Prison Fellowship Ministries.