Diane Hendricks

Diane Marie Hendricks (née Smith; born March 2, 1947) is an American billionaire, businesswoman, and conservative political donor. She is the widow of the late businessman Ken Hendricks.

Biography Hendricks was born in Mondovi, Wisconsin, and raised in Osseo, Wisconsin, the daughter of dairy farmers. At seventeen, she had her first child and began assembling pens at the Parker Pen Company in Janesville, WI. Her relationship with the child's father was short lived, ending in divorce. She speaks of working as a Playboy Bunny. At the age of 21 she became interested in real estate and earned her broker's license.

Career In 1975, she sold custom-built homes. Her husband Ken was a roofer's son and high school dropout. In 2018, Forbes ranked her the US's richest self-made woman. As of December 2024, Forbes estimated her net worth at US$21.9 billion (up from US$2.8 billion in March 2012).

A television show on the A&E Network entitled "Betting on Beloit", featuring Hendricks and her daughter Konya Hendricks Schuh, premiered in July 2025. The program showcases her work in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Donald Trump Hendricks served as an economic advisor to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Across the 2016 and 2020 election cycles combined, she donated $1.4 million to the Trump Victory committee; in 2020 she also gave $4 million to America First Action, the principal pro-Trump super PAC that cycle. As of 2023, she had contributed $5 million to the super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc. She spoke on the last night of the 2024 Republican National Convention, where she was listed as an "everyday American" by convention materials. A 2026 Wall Street Journal report identified Hendricks as the third-highest known donor (and highest non-corporation donor) to MAGA, Inc., at $27 million since the 2024 election.

Other Republican candidates and committees She also supported Paul Ryan. In both 2015 and 2016, she donated $2 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund. In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, she gave over $5 million to the Reform America Fund, a super PAC which opposed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and supported Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin Ron Johnson. In 2015, she gave $5 million to a PAC associated with presidential candidate Scott Walker, of which $4 million was ultimately refunded. Prior to Scott Pruitt's resignation as head of the EPA in July 2018, she donated $50,000 to the Scott Pruitt Legal Expenses Trust. Hendricks contributed $2,800 to the 2020 primary campaign of Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

As of August 2026, Hendricks spent $25.8 million in support of Republican candidates in the 2026 United States elections.

Tax controversies An investigation by Urban Milwaukee found that Hendricks's multi-story 8,500-square-foot home in the Town of Rock in Rock County, Wisconsin, had been assessed as a 1,663-square-foot ranch. Following the Urban Milwaukee investigation, Hendricks denied the tax assessor access to the property, citing "security reasons". After she agreed to supply the assessor with data on the home, the property's assessment was changed from $445,700 to $1,205,500.