Dennis Washington Net Worth, Biography and Assets

Dennis Washington Net Worth  $6 billion

The American billionaire industrialist, Dennis Washington, who owns or co-owns business interests in a large conglomerate of companies known as the Washington Companies and, in Canada, another consortium of companies known as the Seaspan Marine Corporation, was born in Spokane, Washington, United States in 1934, but he moved to his mother’s hometown of Missoula, Montana, with his family when he was very young.

His parents moved again to Bremerton when the Second World War broke out, and his father started working at a defense shipyard. Following the war, his parents divorced and he was left with no choice but to bounce around Montana, California, and Washington, living with relatives and shuffling between schools.

By the age of 14, he was already earning an income by working as a service station mechanic, shining shoes, boxing groceries, and delivering newspapers.

After graduating from high school, Dennis went to Alaska to work at a construction company, returning to Montana after two years to join his uncle’s construction company. By age 26, Mr. Dennis Montana was vice president of the leading construction company in Montana.

When he was 29, he took a loan from a Caterpillar dealer and went into business for himself. His life changed fast from there and by 1969 when he was 35 years old, he was the largest contractor in Montana, and his company, Washington Construction, became one of the largest in the United States within a period of 10 years. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Dennis R. Washington in 1934 and was raised in Spokane, Bremerton, Washington, and Missoula, Montana. After his parents divorced when he was very young, he lived with his mother for some time and later lived with his grandmother.

His father worked in construction overseas and they rarely saw each other. Dennis Washington did not grow up in a rich family, and the best he had was a high school education.

His parents’ divorce served as his motivation to pick up odd jobs as a teenager, working as a mechanic and newspaper deliverer before his fortune changed.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career

Following graduation from high school, Dennis worked at construction companies in Alaska and Montana. He was 30 years old when he started his own business in 1964, using a $30,000 loan and a single bulldozer.

He founded his first company, Washington Construction, and built it to primarily focus on highway contracts. By 1969, his company was the largest construction company in Montana. From there, he moved into mining and dam construction in the 1970s, before acquiring a copper and molybdenum mine in Montana in 1986.

He turned the mine that had been closed down into a profitable operation, and the success he achieved with it helped him diversify into real estate, aviation, railroads, coastal shipping, and marine services.

In 1996 Dennis Washington acquired the global construction company Morrison-Knudsen Corporation and merged it with his first company to create Washington Group International.

Mr. Dennis Washington currently owns and controls the Washington Companies, which are a group of individual privately held companies located in the United States and western Canada and has business activities conducted internationally.

Included in the Washington Companies’ holdings are Seaspan ULC, Montana Rail Link, Aviation Partners Inc., Envirocon Inc., Southern Railway of British Columbia (SRY), Modern Machinery Co. Inc., Montana Resources LLP, and Seaspan Corporation.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

Mr. Washington is married to Phyllis Washington and lives in Missoula, Montana, in the US. His son, Kyle Washington, is a co-chair of Seaspan Marine Corporation.

Dennis Washington Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

As of this writing, Dennis Washington’s net worth is 6 billion dollars. Nothing is known about his salary or monthly earnings and annual compensation, but his career as an entrepreneur has been nothing short of lucrative.

After starting his career in construction with a single bulldozer and $30,000, life pretty much changed very fast for him as his first company went on to succeed to become the largest construction firm in Montana just within five years of its inception.

The businessman has since diversified into mining, dam construction, real estate, and aviation services. His businesses have all been profitable, leading him to become one of the wealthiest people in the United States.

Asides from his primary residence in Montana, Washington also owns a private estate located on Stuart Island, British Columbia, including a golf course and fishing lodge. The University of Montana has named The Washington–Grizzly Stadium for football after him.

He owns a Boeing Business Jet and a private yacht Attessa IV which has been featured in Forbes magazine.