Herbert Wertheim
Coral Gables, Florida
Associate in Arts/Science, Brevard Community College | Doctorate, Southern College of Optometry
United States
investments, Self Made
$2,900,000,000
962
#962 Billionaires 2019
Herbert "Herbie" Wertheim is an optometrist and inventor who built a fortune over five decades of investing in stocks.Wertheim, who was dyslexic and struggled in school, joined the U.S. Navy at age 17 after facing truancy charges.He founded and still runs Brain Power Inc., a manufacturer of optical tints for eyeglasses; it holds more than 100 patents and copyrights.Since 1970, he has invested his profits from Brain Power into the stock market and is the largest individual shareholder in aerospace firm Heico. A product of the public education system, Wertheim has donated $100 million to Florida's public universities and is a signee of the Giving Pledge.
As a child, Wertheim ran away from home, finding work picking oranges in Florida or living with the Seminole Indians.In 1969, he invented an eyeglass tint for plastic lenses that would filter out and absorb dangerous UV rays.
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