41. JOHN MENARD JR.

$11.5 BILLION  SELF-MADE SCORE: ( SOURCE: HOME IMPROVEMENT STORES AGE: 79 RESIDENCE: EAU CLAIRE, WI PHILANTHROPY SCORE: Menard was still in college when he started building agricultural structures near his hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. After college, he turned down a job offer at IBM to stick with his own business; it’s now a 300-store, $10.7 billion (est. sales) home improvement chain, Menards.