25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#20 - #16)

All this week, EarthFirst.com will be counting down the world’s richest green entrepreneurs who have amassed fortunes ranging from the low millions to an incredible $3.4 billion mostly from doing good deeds for the planet.

Today’s 5 green businessmen are a diverse bunch: two energy moguls, the founder of a carbon mitigation firm, a tea titan and the man who changed the face of natural food stores. Each of these men has made $7 million or more off of their eco-friendly ventures, and they’re all likely to keep on hauling in cash by the truckload for the foreseeable future.  These 5 rich ass greenies help prove that environmental responsibility and reaching millionaire status aren’t mutually exclusive.

20. David Scaysbrook, Novera Energy

When David Scaysbrook founded Australian firm Novera Energy in 1998, he was convinced that unlike other forms of renewable energy that were available at the time, wind power had real potential.  He became a millionaire when cashing in $7 million worth of shares in the company, and is still a non-executive director on the board. He’s also a founding shareholder of Viridis Energy Capital, a specialist green energy fund with a global focus and a portfolio of investments in landfill gas, biomass and hydro power.

David is confident that we haven’t seen anything yet when it comes to the success of the wind power industry, telling Reuters that he believes fears about energy security, the rising price of oil and growing concerns about the environment will push the scale of investment in wind to far greater proportions, which will undoubtedly continue adding millions to his bank account.

19. Pedro Moura Costa, EcoSecurities

EcoSecurities is an Irish carbon mitigation firm that has developed more projects than any other similar business, and co-founder Pedro Moura Costa got $10 million richer last year when he sold some of his shares in the firm.  Moura Costa knew that the carbon market could be big business, especially once the Kyoto Protocol was established.  It may have taken longer than he expected for the market to become very profitable, but he’s done well and will continue to make even more: his remaining shares are worth an estimated $83 million.

When asked by Reuters whether the thought green business was a bubble, Moura Costa said, “It’s become quite obvious we do something now or it will be an irreversible trend with catastrophic consequences.  The only chance of it being a bubble is if we lack the political commitment to drive emission reductions worldwide — and if we do that we might as well forget about any environmental effort whatsoever because climate change is hitting us hard and the trend is likely to accelerate. I think it’s very unlikely political support will go away.”

18. Steve Hughes, Celestial Seasonings

Often referred to as an ‘organic mogul’, Steve Hughes is a veteran of the natural foods industry and had already held several high-profile positions before becoming CEO of tea company Celestial Seasonings in 1997.  Serving for just 3 years before Celestial Seasonings was sold to natural foods giant Hain in 2000, Hughes made a whopping $20 million from the merger. He’s credited for reinventing the brand after four years of stagnant sales, resulting in the interest from Hain.

Hughes is now CEO of natural margarine producer Smart Balance, which analysts predict could become a billion-dollar company over the next decade, especially as more people turn to products that don’t contain trans fats.

17. Ryan Turner, Pacific Ethanol

Ryan Turner co-founded Fresno, California-based energy company Pacific Ethanol in 2002, and after just four years, became a multimillionaire. After the company went public, its stock price quadrupled and Tuner, who had been acting as the company’s chief operating officer, cashed in $29.5 million worth of stock.  At just 31, he resigned and set out to enjoy his new fortune. Pacific Ethanol may or may not continue to see the same success and support as it has over recent years, depending on what the future of this biofuel holds. But, either way, Turner’s got it made – if he resists the temptation to spend it like Hammer, he’s set for life.

16. John Mackey, Whole Foods

Way back in 1978, John Mackey dropped out of college and borrowed $45,000 from family friends to open Safer Way Natural Foods, a small vegetarian health food store in Austin, Texas.  After experiencing some difficulty in his first few years in business, Mackey approached the owners of another Austin health food store about a merger, and together they became Whole Foods, which later became the most successful natural foods chain in the world.

Mackey has declined to disclose his personal net worth, but we know that prior to 2006, when he announced that he was no longer in the business to make money and would henceforth only make $1 per year, he was netting $400,000 annually.  He reportedly has enough money now to give at least $1 million away to charity every year, and as CEO of such a huge company, we’re sure he’s pretty damn comfortable.

Check out last week’s installment of ‘25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#25 - #21)‘.

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