Arizona has nine billionaires in 2020 according to Forbes Magazine’s annual list of the world’s richest people. And, according to Forbes, Los Angeles Angels owner Arturo Moreno is the richest person in Arizona, going from a net worth of $3.0 billion in 2019 to $3.3 billion this year to rank at No. 590 on Forbes’ list. Bennett Dorrance, Mark Shoen, Bob Parsons, and Ernest Garcia II round out the Top 5 richest in Arizona.
The magazine said it used stock prices and exchange rates from Feb. 7, 2020, to compile the list, so their estimates fortunes have likely changed due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Everyone had to have an estimated net worth of at least $1 billion.
Here’s a look at the Top 5 in Arizona, according to Forbes:
Arturo Moreno: $3.3 billion
• Arturo Moreno is the owner of the Los Angeles Angels baseball team, which he bought in 2003 for $184 million. It is now worth $1.9 billion.
• Moreno’s initial fortune came from billboard advertising company Outdoor Systems, which he sold to Infinity Broadcasting for $8.7 billion in 1999.
• He has stakes in other billboard advertising companies, though the bulk of his fortune is now in the Angels.
• The oldest of 11 children, Moreno was drafted into the Vietnam War.
• He donates millions of dollars annually to the Moreno Family Foundation, which supports underprivileged youth and education nonprofits.
Bennett Dorrance: $3 billion
• The grandson of John T. Dorrance, the inventor of condensed soup, Bennett Dorrance owns a 15% stake in Campbell Soup.
• Dorrance is a founding partner of DMB Associates, a real estate development firm with projects in Arizona, Utah, California and Hawaii.
• A licensed pilot, Dorrance owns a private hangar in Scottsdale, Arizona that sometimes houses his vintage car collection.
Mark Shoen: $2.9 billion
• Mark Shoen owns roughly one-fifth of U-Haul parent company Amerco mostly through a limited partnership called Willow Grove.
• Shoen is also owner of one of the largest private self-storage operations in the U.S., which does business with U-Haul.
• He sided with his brother Joe in a nasty family feud in which Joe wrested control of U-Haul away from their father.
• He keeps a low profile but apparently remains on good terms with his brother Joe, who still runs the U-Haul business.
Bob Parsons: $2.7 billion
• The colorful founder of GoDaddy, Bob Parsons, sold off his remaining stake in the web hosting firm and stepped down from the board in 2018.
• Parsons founded its predecessor firm Jomax Technologies in 1997 and changed the name to GoDaddy in 2000.
• Parsons now owns shopping malls, motorcycle dealerships, an ad agency and a golf club.
• He’s spent nearly $600 million buying up real estate in Arizona.
• Parsons and his wife have given away more than $180 million to charities since 2012.
• He says his time as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War, where he received a Purple Heart medal and combat action ribbon, helped him in business.
Ernest Garcia II: $2.4 billion
• Ernest Garcia is the biggest shareholder of Carvana, an online platform for selling used cars and making auto loans that conducted an IPO in 2017.
• Carvana was founded by Garcia’s son, Ernest Garcia, III, as a subsidiary of DriveTime Automotive and was later spun out.
• Garcia also owns and runs DriveTime Automotive, the nation’s fourth-biggest used car retailer.
• At 33, Garcia pleaded guilty in 1990 to a bank fraud charge related to his dealings with Lincoln Savings & Loan.