Larry Gies Net Worth 2026: Madison Industries Founder & CEO

Forbes puts Larry Gies' net worth at about $5.3 billion (real-time estimate, checked September 25, 2026). The biggest reason is Madison Air Solutions, the air-handling and cooling company Gies assembled through acquisitions and took public in April 2026 in what the Chicago Business Journal called the largest U.S. IPO of the year. The old $15 million figure on this page was far off and had no source.

What is Larry Gies' net worth?

On its real-time billionaires profile, Forbes estimated Gies' fortune at $5.3 billion on September 25, 2026, ranking him around No. 800 in the world. In a May 2026 feature, Forbes put the figure at about $6 billion, shortly after Madison Air's market value had climbed to roughly $20 billion. The number moves with Madison Air's share price, since a large part of his wealth is his stake in that listed company; the rest sits in privately held Madison Industries and in cash from recent sales. Forbes gives him a self-made score of 9 out of 10.

Where the money comes from

Madison Industries

Gies founded Madison Capital Partners in 1994, which became Madison Industries, a Chicago holding company that buys and rolls up unglamorous industrial businesses. Forbes counts more than 80 acquisitions across more than 20 countries since 2004, in areas such as filtration, medical products, safety, energy, air handling and Seakeeper boat stabilizers.

Madison Air Solutions

Madison Air was built from acquisitions starting in 2017 and owns brands including Nortek Air Solutions, Nortek Data Center Cooling and Big Ass Fans, Reuters reported. Demand for data center cooling made it a hot listing: it raised about $2.2 billion on the New York Stock Exchange in April 2026 at a valuation of roughly $13.3 billion, and Gies kept 95.5% of the voting power, according to the Chicago Business Journal. Madison Industries also bought $100 million of shares in a private placement alongside the offering. In August 2026 Madison Air agreed to buy German fan maker ebm-papst in a $5.4 billion deal, Reuters reported.

Recent sales

Forbes reported that Madison sold its filtration business to Parker-Hannifin for $9.25 billion in November 2025 and its fire and safety business to 3M and Bain Capital for $1.25 billion in March 2026. Those exits turned paper value into cash.

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Early life and education

Gies grew up in rural Mendota, Illinois, not Decatur as this page previously said. His father worked at a manufacturing company, Conco, and his Dutch-born mother was orphaned during World War II, according to Forbes. He studied accounting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and later earned an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management in 1992, per Kellogg. The old page's birth date of October 17, 1964, and its high school details could not be confirmed and have been removed. Forbes lists his age as 60.

Career timeline

Philanthropy

Gies gave $150 million to the University of Illinois in 2017, and the College of Business was renamed for him. In September 2025 he gave $100 million to the university's athletic department, the largest gift in its history, and the football stadium became Gies Memorial Stadium, NBC Chicago reported. He made the gift in memory of his father, Larry Gies Sr., a U.S. Army veteran, and said it honors everyone who has served in uniform. Forbes gives him a philanthropy score of 1 on its 1-to-5 scale, which measures giving relative to net worth.

Larry Gies' wife and family

Gies is married to Beth Gies. Forbes reports that she worked three jobs while he started Madison in 1994. The couple live in Geneva, Illinois, according to Forbes. The old page's height and weight figures had no source and have been removed.

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Net worth compared

Forbes groups Gies with other private equity billionaires such as Carl Thoma and Robert F. Smith of Vista Equity Partners. Among industrial investors on this site, Alec Litowitz of Magnetar Capital also runs a Chicago-area investment firm.

How the figure was reached

Forbes' figure combines the listed Madison Air stake, which it marks to the share price, with its own estimate of the private Madison Industries holdings and cash from recent sales. Because Madison Air's shares swing daily, so does his net worth: it was about $6 billion in May 2026 and $5.3 billion in late September. Forbes is the only reputable publisher cited here; its figure is an estimate, not a disclosure by Gies, who declined to speak to Forbes for its 2026 feature.