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Return to Virginia Business - June 2002

The 2002 Virginia 100

Related stories:
-
The Virgnia 100
- The Virginia 100 list, part 1

Note: * Indicates net worths that include assets held in trust or by other family members

MARKELS
Richmond. Steven A. Markel, 53, is vice chairman of specialty insurance company Markel Corp. in Glen Allen. Cousin Anthony F. Markel, 59, is president and COO. Steve also serves on board of S&K Famous Brands, while Tony is a director of Open Plan Systems Inc. and Hilb, Rogal and Hamilton Co. At Markel, Steve handles investments, Tony manages underwriting. Led by CEO Alan Kirshner - their ex-cousin-in-law - the company has increased book value by 30 percent per year since 1986.
Steven A. Markel: $112 million
Anthony F. Markel: $75 million
Confidence: A

DAVID P. REYNOLDS
Richmond. 87. Chairman emeritus Reynolds Metals Co. Last member of his family to head the Richmond-based company where he worked for more than half a century before his retirement. Reynolds is now owned by Alcoa as part of aluminum industry consolidation.
Net worth: $175 million
Confidence: C

DANIEL F. AKERSON
McLean. 53. Another telecommunications maven trying to weather the storm, Akerson is struggling to keep XO Communications, a major broadband firm based in Reston, alive. Nearly bankrupt, XO could survive depending on how investors work to bail it out. One investor group is led by investment house Fortsmann Little and Mexican telecom Telmex. Akerson, former chairman of Nextel Communications, remains chairman and CEO of XO whose stock is now about worthless. Also serves as director of American Express Co. and AOL Time Warner.
Net worth: $170 million
Confidence: C

JOHN W. SNOW
Richmond. 62. Veteran railroadman has proven that he's a decent turn-around artist as well. Came back out of semi-retirement in 2000 to straighten out the botched takeover, with rival Norfolk Southern Corp., of Conrail. Having served for two years now as chairman, president and CEO, Snow has employed a hands-on approach that has worked and has unscrambled merger-related logistical messes. CSX's stock, which had been in the $50s, plummeted to the low $20s before Snow's triage. On the cut off date of our review, stock was in the high $30s. Snow's net worth has risen accordingly.
Net worth: $160 million
Confidence: B

M. G. "PAT" ROBERTSON
Virginia Beach, 72. Nationally-known televangelist is big-time player in business and conservative politics. Chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, with programming seen in 180 nations and 71 languages. Citing a renewed call to his ministry, he resigned last year as president of the Christian Coalition, a right-wing political organization he founded in 1989. Business investments, Robertson says, include oil refinery near Los Angeles, a 200,000-acre gold site in Africa, Earth Friendly Chemicals, which provides de-icing material for highways, plus a half interest in a Hollywood animation company. Roberston stumbled, however, when interests turned to the track. He invested $520,000 in a thoroughbred colt he named "Mr. Pat," but his followers protested, and Robertson is divesting.
Net worth: $155 million
Confidence: C

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LUCK FAMILY
Goochland County. Luck Stone Corp. is largest privately held, family-run producer of aggregates in the United States. Founded in 1923, company is led by Charles S. Luck III, chairman, and Charles S. Luck IV, president and CEO. Current business operations include 13 quarries and three sand and gravel plants in Virginia and two quarries in North Carolina. In late '90s, Luck Stone purchased Lee Tennis, a leader in the clay court industry. Luck Stone also acquired a top-selling brand of tennis court surfacing. Luck property holdings are managed by Luck Properties, which developed Deer Run Commerce Center in Newport News and Rockville Commerce Center near Richmond, It's currently developing River Run Business Center in Spotsylvania.
Net worth: $150 million
Confidence: B

JAMES B. MURRAY JR.
Charlottesville. 55. Colleague of Gov. Mark R. Warner, Murray is founding partner of Columbia Capital Corp., an Alexandria venture-capital firm that spearheaded Northern Virginia's 1990s high-tech revolution. Left company in 2000 to pursue other interests. Currently serves as managing partner of Court Square Ventures in Charlottesville. Last year published critically acclaimed book detailing the history of wireless cellular communication. From an inside perspective, Murray explains how big-time moguls such as Craig McCaw and John Kluge made billions from the new technology. Also relates the early days of Gov. Warner's career as a high-tech dealmaker by flipping licenses for radio spectrum.
Net worth: $150 million
Confidence: C

ROBERT M. ROSENTHAL
Middleburg, 73. Major player among car dealers. Heads Rosenthal Automotive Organization, comprised of 15 dealerships in the Washington, D.C., area. Serves as a trustee on the board of Capital Automotive, a REIT for automotive retail real estate. The public company has $1.3 billion invested in 274 automotive properties in 28 states with 77 percent of the properties located in top 50 metropolitan markets. Rosenthal owns 11 percent of REIT's stock. Serves on board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority and First Virginia Bank.
Net worth: $150 million
Confidence: C

JOSEPH W. LUTER III
Smithfield. 62. CEO of Smithfield Foods. Flurry of food company deals has made him a major power broker in the industry. Eight acquisitions he engineered last year brought in more than $2 billion in sales, including two major beef processing operations that now make traditionally pork-centered company the nation's fifth-largest beef firm. Sales total more than $8 billion and Smithfield, of which Luter owns 5.8 million shares, still is pork king.
Net worth: $145 million
Confidence: A

MACON F. BROCK JR./
J. DOUGLAS PERRY

Virginia Beach. 60. The CEO of Dollar Tree Stores Inc. added the additional role of chairman last year following the retirement of J. Douglas Perry who remains on the board of directors as chairman emeritus. The nation's leading discount variety chain continues a strategy of aggressive expansion, opening its 2,000th store in February and breaking ground on its seventh merchandise distribution center. Following a sales slump in 2001, the company recovered this year, reporting increased net income, $22.6 million, and shareholder earnings by the first quarter's end. Stock prices are up as well, climbing from a low point of $15.81 per share after last year's plunge to as much as $39.41. Brock, who owns 3.6 percent of the company's stock, saw his net worth go up as well. Plus the CEO got a bonus of $188,000 and options on 60,000 shares of the company's stock.
Macon F. Brock: $139 million
J. Douglas Perry: $91 million
Confidence: B

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MICHAEL SAYLOR
Vienna. 37. Co-founder and CEO of MicroStrategy. Once the high-tech darling of Wall Street, a leaner, restructured MicroStrategy is focusing on its core business of providing e-business software that allows customers to mine information from databases. Even with about 100 new customer deals per quarter, it was a tough year for the McLean-based firm. For fiscal 2001, revenues fell 16 percent to $180 million for a loss of 20 cents per share. But this was better than $285 million the company lost the year before or $3.58 per share. The company disbanded a dot-com unit, Strategy.com, one of Saylor's pet projects.
Net worth: $128 million
Confidence: C

VAN METRE FAMILY
Burke. Albert G. Van Metre, Sr. 76. Founded Van Metre Cos., one of the most successful real estate companies in Northern Virginia. Latest project is Woodland Park, a luxury apartment complex on 32 acres in Fairfax County. The garden-style units, which will eventually total more than 700, offer hot tubs, fireplaces, high ceilings and modern communications packages with high-speed Internet access and video and intrusion alarms. No panic rooms yet that we know of and the Van Metres have no reason to be in a panic, since their net worth increased $3 million from last year. "The bend of this company will be to build more and more investment properties," says Van Metre. The company has already started on a new apartment project in Florida.
Net worth: $126 million
Confidence: A

WILTON FAMILY
Richmond. E. Carlton Wilton Sr., 80, developed much of Richmond's western suburbs. He remains chairman of The Wilton Cos. His son, E. Carlton Wilton Jr., is president. Much of his wealth comes from the 1991 sale of Regency Square Mall for an estimated $120 million. Is active in many local charities and educational institutions, such as the Virginia Home for Boys and Collegiate School.
Net worth: $125 million
Confidence: A

DOUGLAS H. McCORKINDALE
McLean. 63. Chairman, president & CEO of McLean-based Gannett Co., an international news, information and Internet company. Joined Gannett, which owns USA TODAY, the country's largest-selling daily newspaper, in 1971 as general counsel. Six years later, became senior vice president of finance and law and a director of the company. A Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, McCorkindale graduated cum laude from Columbia Law School in 1964. McCorkindale is a director of Continental Airlines Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp.
Net worth: $120 million
Confidence: A

JOHN GRISHAM
Charlottesville. 47. Famed novelist is returning to his highly successful legal thriller genre with a newly released book, "The Summons." The novel merges Grisham's Mississippi background with his present home in Virginia. Tipping his hat to his beloved Charlottesville domicile, Grisham has crafted the main character in his new book as a law professor at the University of Virginia. Terribly private, Grisham maintains a home in Virginia because of its seclusion. Author still supports his other passion: baseball. He's a major contributor to Little League and college ball at, of course, U.Va.
Net worth: $120 million
Confidence: C

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F. WAYNE MCLESKEY JR.
Virginia Beach. 78. Owns more than $40 million in commercial real estate plus other properties in Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina.
Net worth: $120 million
Confidence: C

JEFFREY J. STEINER
Upperville and New York. 65. Chairman of Fairchild Corp. takes shelter at Foxlease, a 936-acre farm in Upperville from the harries of the business world. An émigré from Austria, Steiner climbed the corporate ladder at Texas Instruments and became a corporate raider in the 1980s with help from junk bond king-turned-philanthropist Michael Milken. Draws criticism for leadership of aircraft parts maker Fairchild; its stock has sunk from about $22.75 a share to $3.30 a share, although has recently climbed up to about $6 a share. Yet Steiner is one of the highest-paid executives in the region, with a salary of $2.5 million a year, more than double what Steve Case of AOL Time Warner makes.
Net worth: $120 million
Confidence: B

ALAN T. LINGERFELT
Richmond. 47. In late 1960s and 1970s began converting family contracting business into Lingerfelt Development Corp. Sold company in 1995 to Pennsylvania-based Liberty Property Trust for $70 million in cash and $14 million in shares. Currently serves as a senior vice president for the company.
Net worth: $115 million
Confidence: B

EDWIN A. JOSEPH
Gloucester. 74. Majority owner of Great Atlantic Real Estate/Property Management Co. in Newport News. Company is continually growing, acquiring an average of 2,000 apartment units each year and managing or owning 15,000 apartment units on each coast. While Joseph is still involved in the business, he also spends much of his time doing charity work including convalescence and hospice work.
Net worth: $110 million
Confidence: B

BYRD Family
Winchester. 86. The former U.S. senator has holdings in two newspapers, the Winchester Star and Harrisonburg News-Record. Three decades ago, he sold the family apple business, that now includes about 15,000 acres of orchards, to his son Harry F. Byrd III. His other son publishes The Winchester Star.
Net worth: $100 million
Confidence: C

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ALAN M. VOORHEES
Alexandria. 79. An innovator in urban planning, Voorhees started his career as a planning engineer. Wrote a landmark paper on the application of mathematical models for forecasting traffic that is still used by traffic forecasters today. In 1998, Rutgers University honored him when it established the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center. Now an angel-investor, Voorhees owns scattered properties around the state: the Berkeley Hotel in Richmond, the Westmoreland Berry Farm and investments in a number of technology ventures.
Net worth: $100 million
Confidence: B

THE GUMENICKS
Family patriarch Nathan S. Gumenick passed away in 1996 at the age of 94. He entered real estate market during the Depression and founded Gumenick properties in the 1940s. His family has given generously to several organizations, including $1 million to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and $1 million to Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Wife, Sophie, lives in Florida. Son Jerome Gumenick, 74, lives in Richmond area.
Net worth: $100 million
Confidence: C

MILTON V. PETERSON
Fairfax. 66. Founder and chairman of Peterson Cos., a real estate company that has planned and developed more than 22,000 residential lots, and has developed or acquired 5.5 million square feet of office space in the Washington, D.C., area. Currently, the company owns 2,000 acres in 24 locations in the area, which are in various planning stages. Peterson Cos. expects these properties to lead to more than 8 million square feet of office space, 4 million square feet of retail space and 2,500 residential units.
Net worth: $100 million
Confidence: C

HARRY H. HUNT III
Blacksburg, Smith Mountain Lake, Ocean Reef, Fla., 68. Chairman and cofounder of HHHunt, a privately owned real estate development company in Blacksburg. Has grown firm from a 56-unit apartment complex near Virginia Tech in 1966 to an entity with $103 million in revenues. Properties from Maryland to South Carolina include apartments, assisted-living units and planned communities. A major player in the Richmond market, HHHunt developed Wellesley and Wyndham subdivisions. Hunt builds firm by reinvesting 90 percent of all cash flow and profits into new projects. Splits time between a mountaintop home in Blacksburg, a winter home in Key Largo and a waterside home at Smith Mountain Lake. A University of Virginia grad, Hunt owns 95 percent of his company.
Net worth: $96 million *
Confidence: A

JOHN D. PHILLIPS
Keswick, Atlanta and Sea Island, Ga. 59. Chairman and CEO of World Access Inc., an Atlanta-based international telecommunications firm. Company still trying to reorganize after it filed for voluntary bankruptcy last year. Also pending is a multi-million dollar lawsuit against a foreign competitor, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, which is blocking company's plans for European expansion. Another stumbling block: Phillips had to buy back his country estate in Keswisk, Airslie, after agreeing to sell it, a blunder that cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars. At least his net worth didn't change much over the last year, since Phillips says holdings consist primarily of cash, land and other assets.
Net worth: $95 million
Confidence: A

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THE McMURTRIES
Richmond. Former State Del. Alexander B. McMurtrie Jr. and his wife Margaret Hillenbrand. McMurtrie has substantial investments in Indiana-based Hillenbrand Industries, founded by Mrs. McMurtrie's grandfather. Hillenbrand Industries is the holding company of Forethought Financial Services, Batesville Casket Company and Hill-Rom, which manufactures health care products. McMurtrie, an attorney, is counsel for Forethought Financial and also has real estate interests in Virginia and Indiana.
Net worth: $90 million*
Confidence: B

STANLEY F. PAULEY
Richmond. 74. Canadian native and electrical engineer led management buyout of The Carpenter Co. in 1980. Richmond-based company makes wide variety of polyurethane foam and fiber cushioning products including carpet cushion, mattress pads, pillows and foam packaging. Besides expanding a small local firm into a global player, Pauley has been active in community affairs, including serving on the boards of Hampden Sydney College and the Valentine Museum. He currently heads the capital campaign at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Net worth: $90 million
Confidence: C

BRYAN FAMILY
Richmond. Estate, built by the late D. Tennant Bryan, publisher of Richmond Newspapers Inc. and founder of Media General Inc., has been settled with IRS, but required sale of more than 1 million shares of Media General stock, and will require more. Children include Mary Perkins of Richmond, Florence Fowlkes of Chevy Chase, Md., and J. Stewart Bryan III. Bryan , 63, is chairman and CEO of Media General, whose holdings include this magazine, 25 daily newspapers, 26 TV stations and part ownership in two newsprint mills. During past several years, company has bought several media properties in the Southeast, emphasizing new media and converging Internet, print, and broadcast news. Virginia holdings include a Roanoke TV station and newspapers in Richmond, Charlottesville and eight other cities. Media General stock price has had a 25 percent increase in value since the first of the year.
Net worth: $85 million
Confidence: A

WILLIAM A. HAZEL
Broad Run. 67. William A. Hazel Inc. is largest utility contractor in Northern Virginia. Shares real estate interests with brother Til, including land in Loudoun and Fauquier counties.
Net worth: $85 million
Confidence: B

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JAMES B. CRAWFORD
Richmond. 59. James River Coal Co., which he founded in 1988 through a leveraged buyout, is second largest producer in the prized low-sulfur, high-heat coal fields of Eastern Kentucky. James River Coal has strong markets among Southeastern utilities, although, like all Central Appalachian coal companies, has been affected by declines in demand due to the recession and mild weather.
Net worth: $80 million
Confidence: C

JOHN T. HAZEL JR.
Broad Run. 71. Lawyer-developer still active in Reed Smith Hazel & Thomas law firm. Advocate of higher education. Former partner in Hazel/Peterson Cos., a Fairfax-based real estate development firm. Company has built many prominent Fairfax County projects, including Fair Lakes and Burke Center.
Net worth: $80 million
Confidence: A

JOHN G. BALLENGER
Middleburg. 70. Long-time technology executive has left Computer Equity Corp., a Chantilly-based firm he started in 1986. Now runs real estate ventures trading as JGB Corp. of Middleburg and oversees his tech investments and cattle firm. Portfolio has taken a hit because of downturn in technology market.
Net worth: $75 million
Confidence: A

JOHN H. FAIN
Virginia Beach. 53. Co-founded Virginia Beach-based Metro Information Services and served as CEO until company was acquired by Massachusetts-based Keane Inc. in November. Now serves as director of Keane, an application software firm.
Net worth: $65 million
Confidence: B

MAX PEARSON
Richmond. 82. President of The Pearson Cos., a family-owned corporation that operates seven automobile dealerships in Virginia, including Richmond Honda and three in Florida. Pearson is also a partner in two auto dealerships in Texas. Ownership interests in insurance companies, radio stations and real estate round out his portfolio.
Net worth: $60 million*
Confidence C

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THE NOLANDS
Lloyd U. Noland Jr. grew father's plumbing supply business, founded in 1915, from $60 million in sales in 1952 to $400 million when he retired in 1987. Son Lloyd U. Noland III, now at helm as chairman and president. Family owns about 58 percent of corporation's stock. Noland Co. is wholesaler of mechanical equipment and supplies, operating more than 102 locations in 13 states. In first quarter of 2000, a decline in manufacturing activity and electrical and industrial sales severely cut into the demand for Noland's products, resulting in an earnings decline.
Net worth: $56 million
Confidence: B

THE deLASKIS
Great Falls. Father and son, Donald deLaski Sr. and Kenneth E. deLaski, founded Deltek Systems Inc. in 1983. McLean firm develops and supports advanced software. Donald is chairman, Kenneth is president and CEO. Both began their careers as accountants. Donald also served as CFO for a government contractor and founded his own CPA firm specializing in providing services to government contractors. In 1996, he and wife Nancy founded The Alliance for Medical Care, nonprofit organization that subsidizes health insurance premiums for children of low-income working families.
Net worth: $54 million
Confidence: B

THE MERRICKS
McLean. Australian-born Phillip Merrick, 39, and his wife, Caren DeWitt, 41, co-founded webMethods Inc. in 1996 with help from an angel investor and by maxing out credit cards. A year after its start, the Fairfax-based company had a measly $31 in its bank account. Merrick is chairman and CEO of webMethods. DeWitt is the chairman of the webMethods Foundation. Today webMethods, an integration software provider, has more than 900 customers worldwide and offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Company was one of the few technology companies to survive the high-tech market crash. The company reported revenues of $49 million for the last quarter of 2001. While still awash in cash, webMethods, under philanthropists Merrick and DeWitt, set up a $25 million foundation to aid nonprofit social groups in 2000.
Net worth: $52 million
Confidence: B

STEPHEN M. WOLF
Middleburg. 60. Former chairman of US Airways Group worked at seven different airlines during his long career. As a teen in California, attended high school four hours each day so he also could work and support his family. U.S. Air, however, has been badly hurt by the fall-off in air travel following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and is seeking a federal bailout.
Net worth: $27 million
Confidence: B

The 2002 Virginia 100: 1 2

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Return to Virginia Business - June 2002

 


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