Ron Pratte, a native of Chandler, a suburb in Phoenix, Arizona USA, is an American businessman and car collector. He is the founder and former CEO of Pratte Development Company, Inc., but is best known for his renowned car collection.
So just how wealthy is Ron Pratte? Sources state that Pratte has amassed a net worth of over $350 million, as of early 2017. His wealth has been collected through his house-building business as well as by selling his elaborate car collection.
Ron Pratte Net Worth $350 Million
During his teenage years, Pratte worked at a gas station, where he would dream about having cars like some of the exquisite ones that came to the station. After high school, he started a business of building houses, launching a wood framing and concrete foundation company called Pratte Development Company, Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona. Starting such a venture in one of the fastest growing areas of the country made the business grow quite rapidly, especially during the building boom in Arizona, the time when the company had over 4,000 workers and was building as many as 60 houses a day. It became one of the largest wood framing and concrete foundation companies in the country. The blessings of its success enabled Pratte to earn a sizable net worth.
At the height of the housing boom, Pratte sold his company to Pulte Homes, another large home-building company, which boosted his wealth. Although many would consider his choice to sell such a blossoming business as stupid, Pratte actually made an extremely smart move – he cashed out just before the housing market crashed.
Meanwhile, he began collecting various automobilia. After selling the company, he fulfilled his quest and started to add cars to his collection, placing them in a house he built near his home in Chandler, which eventually turned into a vintage-car museum. Pratte got his start in collector car circles at an auction in Scottsdale in 2003, when he bought 52 vehicles for his collection. In 2006 he purchased a GM Futurliner, one of only nine to still exist, for $4.1 million. The following year he spent $5.5 million on the last remaining 1966 Shelby Cobra Super Snake. Many other purchases followed, among them a 1950 GM Futurliner Parade of Progress Tour Bus which he bought for $4.3 million, a 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special Motorama Concept Car bought for $3 million, a 1936 Delahaye “Whatthehaye” Street-Rod, a 1969 Ford Mustang BOSS 429, and the last Sting Ray, a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette coupe which Pratte purchased for $660,000. He bought most of the vehicles at the famed Barrett-Jackson auctions. Aside from cars, Pratte’s collection included various automobilia, such as gas-pump globes, rare pedal cars and signs for automakers, motor oil and gas stations.
After more than 10 years spent on buying numerous unique vehicles, Ron decided to sell his entire collection, which included 112 cars and over 1,600 pieces of automobilia, at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale in 2015. The auction was attended by a huge number of car enthusiasts and bidders from all around the world. As reported by Barret-Jackson, Pratte’s automobilia collection was auctioned off for an astonishing $6.55 million, setting the world record for such an auction. The total vehicle and automobilia sales from the entire Pratte collection surpassed $40.44 million. Pratte’s net worth hugely intensified.
The auction of his collection is considered one of the most significant ones ever offered in Barrett-Jackson history and one of the most-remembered ones. It made Pratte an extremely rich man.
In his private life, Pratte has been very secretive and quiet. Sources believe he was married and is single at present.
The acclaimed car collector has been involved in philanthropy. Upon selling his home development company, portions of the money he netted went to a charity organization. He also purchased cars with the proceeds benefiting various charity causes. At the 2015 auction, a great part of profit was collected for charities.
