Roxanne Quimby was born on 11 July 1950, in Cambridge Massachusetts USA, and is an artist and entrepreneur, best known as a co-founder of the Burt’s Bees personal care products company.
Also a famous conservationist, how wealthy is Roxanne Quimby? Sources state that Quimby has acquired a net worth of over $350 million, as of mid-2016, established mostly through her involvement in the Burt’s Bee company.
Roxanne Quimby Net Worth $350 Million
Quimby was raised by an an engineer and salesman father and a homemaker mother in Lexington, Massachusetts, along with her three siblings. During her childhood years, she ran a few small businesses, such as selling soap, stuffed animals and self-made jewelry, and running a small bakery in her neighborhood. In 1969 she enrolled in the San Francisco Art Institute, graduating with a BFA in painting in 1973.
Two years later Quimby moved to Guilford, Maine and bought 30 acres of forest land, building a small cabin in which to live a rustic life which meant no electricity, running water or other contemporary comforts. To make a living, she worked as a waitress. In 1984 she met beekeeper Burt Shavitz, and after learning about bees from him, Quimby started her own business of selling candles made of his beeswax. Eventually, the duo began working together, developing natural, earth-friendly cosmetics and beauty supplies. The business grew rapidly, and in 1989 evolved into a personal care company called Burt’s Bees, producing candles, natural soaps, perfumes, and its best-selling product – lip balm.
After making a $20,000 profit in the first year, the business continued to grow through the 90s, becoming a nationwide sensation by earning hundreds of millions of dollars in accrued revenue. However, the partners separated, and Quimby went on to run the business on her own, eventually buying Shavitz’s stake in the company. Due to increasing demand and product offerings, Burt’s Bees moved its headquarters to Creedomoor, North Carolina in 1995, adding several new products into its offerings, and opening its first retail store. Within a few years, the company had more than 100 personal care products to offer in 4,000 locations, with sales exceeding $8 million, which significantly contributed to Quimby’s net worth.
In 1999 Burt’s Bees moved to Durham, North Carolina, and launched an eCommerce website. In 2007 Quimby sold the company to the Clorox Company, and it has since served as its subsidiary. Selling Burt’s Bees brought an incredible amount of money into Quimby’s pocket.
During the early 2000s, through one of her foundations, Quimby bought over 120,000 acres of forest land in northern Maine, proposing a donation of 70,000 acres of her land for the creation of a new North Woods National Park, with the remaining 30,000 acres being managed by the state. Although her plan caused a lot of controversy and complaints by the residents, in 2016 she transferred 87,000 acres of her North Woods land worth $60 million to the US Department of the Interior, adding $20 million to cover initial operations. The project, initially imagined as a national park, will instead become the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
Speaking about her private life, Quimby was married to George St. Clair during the late ’70s and early ’80s, with whom she has two children. She later had a relationship with Burt Shavitz, the Burt’s Bees co-founder; the couple separated in 1993. Sources believe that she has been single ever since.
Quimby is a prominent philanthropist who leads three major foundations of charitable character, the Elliotsville Plantation, the Quimby Family Foundation and the Qiumby Colony, focusing on environmental protection and conservation, and supporting arts and job creation in Maine.
