Jim McIngvale was born on the 11th February 1951, in Starkville, Mississippi USA, and is a businessman, best known for his furniture retail chain called Gallery Furniture, which he established in 1981.
Have you ever wondered how rich Jim McIngvale is, as of mid-2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Jim McIngvale’s net worth is as high as $75 million, an amount he has earned through 35 years of successful business. In addition to owning lucrative retail shops, McIngvale also published a book “Always Think Big” in 2006, which further improved his wealth.
Jim McIngvale Net Worth $75 Million
Jim McIngvale grew up in Texas and went to the Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas. He started his business in 1981 with $5,000 and his pickup truck, following the backing up of a potential investor who decided not to allow him money. The Gallery Furniture had a pretty good start, but with the crash of the oil business his sales dramatically declined, and McIngvale was forced to invest his last $10,000 in advertising on local TV stations in 1983.
With the catchphrase, ‘Gallery Furniture saves you money!’, that was well received among the Houston residents, McIngvale’s business started to bloom, and at the moment, the store has over $200 million in sales per year. In 2009, a fire took place in one of the stores around Houston, but luckily no one was hurt however the fire destroyed most of the warehouse. It was concluded that the fire was arson, and after few weeks, a suspect Robert Gillham was arrested, but since he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial, the authorities released him.
Jim McIngvale is well-known for his distinct and unorthodox advertising. In 2014, a couple of weeks before the Super Bowl XLVIII between Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, McIngvale offered all customers a special refund for purchases of more than $6,000 if the Seahawks won the game. After Seattle had destroyed Denver, he paid over $7 million in refunds and stated that he had customers for life with this kind of policy.
A similar offer occurred in 2014 for the celebration of his 63rd birthday; Jim offered a refund for the first 500 customers who buy the furniture for $6,300 or more in case the baseball team Houston Astros record 63 wins in a regular season. In this case, luckily for him, the Astros failed to do it, so McIngvale saved over $4 million.
Regarding his personal life, Jim McIngvale is living with his wife Linda in Houston – they have three children. He is a prominent philanthropist; in 2007, he organised a fundraising event at his shop to collect money for The Salvation Army, and many people gathered to give their contribution, including the former US President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; McIngvale donated $50,000 of his money to the cause. He also gave a reasonable amount of money to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School in 2014. McIngvale is a well-known Republican, and he supports the Tea Party movement and is also helping them with occasional donations.
