Don Hankey
About Don Hankey
The little-known king of subprime car loans, Don Hankey presides over the $25 billion (assets) Hankey Group, a Los Angeles-based auto services empire.
His Westlake Financial Services works with more than 50,000 car dealerships in all 50 states to provide car loans to people with bad, or no, credit.
The Hankey Group also includes a real estate firm and a Toyota dealership, plus auto insurance, rental car and dealer software companies.
As a teen Hankey worked as a lot boy, washing and polishing cars, and then as a salesman at his father's Los Angeles Ford dealership.
In 1972 he bought control of the dealership and began extending loans to people with poor credit. The business took off and is now his biggest asset.
Personal stats
Citizenship
United States of AmericaSource of wealth
Auto loansResidence
Malibu, CaliforniaMarital status
MarriedBirth date
06/13/43 (age 81)Number of children
4Education
Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Southern CaliforniaSelf-made
self-madeDon Hankey’s fortune is worth
troy ounces of gold
median U.S. household
median U.S. income
U.S. credit card volume
GDP of the United States
United States debt
Net worth history
Annual ranking
Did you know?
The returns-obsessed Hankey has a strict rule for each of his businesses: achieve a 30% pretax return on equity and 20% revenue growth annually.
Net worth over time
Real-time ranking
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