Steven Rales – Billionaire
| Steven M. Rales | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1951 (age 65–66) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | B.A. DePauw University J.D. American University |
| Occupation | Businessman Film producer |
| Known for | co-founder of Danaher Corporation |
| Net worth |  US$ 3.8 billion (July 2014) |
| Spouse(s) | Christine Plank (divorced) Lalage Damerell |
| Children | three (with Plank) |
| Parent(s) | Ruth Rales Norman Rales |
| Family | Mitchell Rales (brother) |
Steven M. Rales (born 1951) is an American businessman and film producer, and chairman of Danaher Corporation. He is listed as the 118th richest person in America, with a value of $3.2 billion.
Early life and education
Raised in a Jewish family, Rales is one of four sons of Norman and Ruth Rales. His father was raised in an orphanage, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York City and later became a businessman who sold his building supply company in Washington, D.C. to his employees in what was the first employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) transaction in the U.S. His father was also a philanthropist founding the Norman and Ruth Rales Foundation and the Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service. Steven Rales has three brothers: Joshua, Mitchell, and Stewart.
Rales graduated in 1969 from Walt Whitman High School, in Bethesda, Maryland. in 1973 from DePauw University, where he was in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. In 1978, he was awarded a J.D. from American University.
Investments
In 1979, he left his father’s real estate firm to found Equity Group Holdings, with his brother Mitchell Rales. Using junk bonds, they bought a diversified line of businesses: first Mastershield, a vinyl siding manufacturer, then Mohawk Rubber Company, then Diversified Mortgage Group. They changed the name to Diversified Mortgage Investors, in 1978, and then Danaher, in 1984.
In 1985 they bought Easco Corporation, the then-largest independent aluminum extrusion manufacturer, and hand tool manufacturer which produced the Craftsman brand of sockets and wrenches for Sears.
In 1988, they made a hostile takeover bid for Interco (including Converse, and Ethan Allen). When the company responded with a poison pill, they sued, and prevailed in court. They later ended the bid after five months with a profit of $60 million.
In the 1980s, the AM side of WGMS was sold off to Washington, D.C., venture capitalists Steven and Mitchell Rales, who converted the music station into the first frequency for WTEM, a sports-talk station, in 1992.
He has served as Chairman of the Board of Danaher since January, 1984.
In 1995 Steven and Mitchell Rales founded Colfax Corporation, a Richmond, Virginia industrial pumps manufacturer. In May 2008, Steven engineered the initial public offering of the company.
Source:wikipedia