18. Eric Smidt — $4.5 billion | Los Angeles Business Journal

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NET WORTH: $4.5 billion
AGE: 60
RESIDENCE: Beverly Hills
SOURCE OF WEALTH: Retail
LAST YEAR: $4.4 billion
CHANGE: +2%

THE MONEY: Eric Smidt is the chief executive and owner of Calabasas-based Harbor Freight Tools USA Inc. He started his business career at age 17, when he began transforming his father’s small phone sales business into a mail-order tool company. In 1985, at the age of 25, Smidt became president of Harbor Freight Tools. Today, his discount tool and equipment retailer has more than 1,000 stores in 48 states, as well as ecommerce and catalog sales. Its revenue tops $4.9 billion, according to a 2020 report from Moody’s Investors Service.

THE BUZZ: When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Harbor Freight donated its entire supply of personal protective equipment to hospitals in the communities served by its stores. On the philanthropic front, Smidt supports Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, USC, UCLA and nonprofit charter school manager Alliance College-Ready Public Schools. He also serves on the boards of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Portland Art Museum and has more than 30 years of experience as a jet pilot.

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