Rank #160
Eric Smidt
Net worth $17.9B
Hardware stores · United States
- Born
- Jan 01, 1960
- Age
- 66
- Source
- Hardware stores
- Residence
- Beverly Hills, California
- Citizenship
- United States
- Marital status
- Married
- Children
- 0
- Education
Net worth over time
Biography
- Eric Smidt is CEO of nearly $9 billion (sales) Harbor Freight Tools, a home improvement retailer that has over 1,600 stores.
- Smidt was a teenager when he started Harbor Freight Tools with his father Allan in 1977. He earned enough credits at his job to graduate high school.
- In the beginning, Harbor Freight was a mail-order business that sold tools out of a small warehouse in North Hollywood.
- Smidt became president of the company in 1985 and CEO and sole owner in 1999.
- In 2010, his father Allan sued him for "looting" the company and leveraging it to finance his own lavish lifestyle. The case was settled out of court.
- Smidt and his wife live in a 35-room Beverly Hills mansion called "the Knoll," whose previous residents include oilman Marvin Davis and country singer Kenny Rogers.
- In 2013, Smidt and his wife created Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, a philanthropic initiative that supports skilled trades education in America.