Family Background and Education
DeVos grew up in Holland, Michigan, the daughter of Elsa Zweip Prince (later, Broekhuizen) and Edgar Prince, a self-made industrialist noted for his right-wing politics and strict Christian values. Edgar was the founder of Prince Corporation, an automobile parts supplier based in Holland, Michigan, which at one time employed almost one-quarter of the population of the town. DeVos' mother has been a philanthropist and has been active in conservative social causes, including supporting an anti-gay marriage ballot proposal in California. DeVos' brother, Erik Prince, founded Blackwater USA, a private security firm which has operations in Iraq.
After graduating from Holland Christian High School, DeVos attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan where she earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and political science. In the 1980s, she married Dick DeVos, an heir to the Amway fortune, who ran its parent company Alticor, from 1993 to 2002 and was the 2006 Republican nominee for governor of Michigan. The couple has four children.
Read more about this topic: Betsy De Vos
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