Portrait of Don Hankey

Rank #442

Don Hankey

Net worth $8.2B

Auto loans · United States

Born
Jun 13, 1943
Age
82
Source
Auto loans
Residence
Malibu, California
Citizenship
United States
Marital status
Married
Children
4
Education
Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Southern California

Net worth over time

Biography

  • The little-known king of subprime car loans, Don Hankey presides over the $30 billion (assets) Hankey Group, a Los Angeles-based auto services empire.
  • His Westlake Financial Services works with more than 50,000 car dealerships in all 50 states to provide car loans to people with bad, or no, credit.
  • The Hankey Group also includes a real estate firm and a Toyota dealership, plus auto insurance, rental car and dealer software companies.
  • As a teen Hankey worked as a lot boy, washing and polishing cars, and then as a salesman at his father's Los Angeles Ford dealership.
  • In 1972 he bought control of the dealership and began extending loans to people with poor credit. The business took off and is now his biggest asset.
  • The returns-obsessed Hankey has a strict rule for each of his businesses: achieve a 30% pretax return on equity and 20% revenue growth annually.
  • To make money, Hankey even regularly rents out his Malibu beach house for filming commercials, TV shows and movies, including CSI: Miami and Charlie's Angels.