Rank #2024
Bill Austin
Net worth $2.1B
Hearing aids · United States
- Born
- Feb 25, 1942
- Age
- 84
- Source
- Hearing aids
- Residence
- Brownsville, Texas
- Citizenship
- United States
- Marital status
- Married
- Children
- 3
- Education
- High School Graduate, High School
Net worth over time
Biography
- Bill Austin owns Starkey Hearing Technologies, the largest hearing aid manufacturer in the U.S.
- He bought a hearing aid parts shop, which was then called Starkey Labs, for $13,000 in 1970.
- Austin fired several top executives of Starkey Hearing in 2015, a tumultuous time for the company.
- That move unleashed a series of events that resulted in the former company president being found guilty of federal fraud charges in 2018.
- Austin spends much of his time traveling to developing countries for his Starkey Hearing Foundation, distributing hearing aids.
- Starkey's customers have reportedly included five U.S. presidents, two popes and singer Dolly Parton.
- The Starkey Hearing Foundation says it has donated over 1.5 million hearing aids around the world.