Ray Skillman Net Worth 2026: Indianapolis Auto Dealer Founder

No reputable outlet has published an estimate of Ray Skillman's personal net worth. The $482 million figure on an earlier version of this page had no source and has been removed. What is on record is the size of the business he founded: the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that Ray Skillman Auto Group had about $1 billion in revenue and 1,112 employees in 2023, ranking it the 10th largest private company in the Indianapolis area.

What is Ray Skillman's net worth?

Forbes, Bloomberg, Celebrity Net Worth and the Indiana business press have not put a figure on Skillman's fortune. His auto group is family-owned and private, so profits, debt and the exact ownership split are not published. Revenue is not the same as wealth: car dealers typically keep only a small share of sales as profit, and a $1 billion revenue figure says nothing precise about what the owners are worth.

Two facts suggest the family is wealthy. First, the group has grown from one lot in Owensboro, Kentucky, into more than a dozen showrooms around central Indiana. Second, Skillman has said he paid more than $1 million each for several race cars in his collection, as reported by Current in Carmel in 2023.

Where the money comes from

Ray Skillman Auto Group

The dealer group is the core of the family's wealth. According to IBJ in March 2025, it had 16 showrooms at 10 locations: six in Indianapolis and one each in Avon, Greenwood, Martinsville and Whiteland. The group's website advertises new and used vehicles from eight brands, including Ford, Kia, Hyundai, Buick, GMC and Mitsubishi stores.

Classic car collection

Skillman keeps roughly 200 vehicles in a 45,000-square-foot building in Greenwood that he built in 2006, according to Current. About 80 are race cars, including a car Mario Andretti drove at Indianapolis, one of the four 1968 turbine cars (the one Graham Hill raced), and Arie Luyendyk's 1997 Indianapolis 500 winner. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has displayed three of his cars. The collection is not valued publicly.

Career timeline

Most of the early history comes from a 2010 Indianapolis Business Journal profile:

• Teenage years: grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky; at 16 he put a Chevrolet V8 into a 1950 Ford coupe.
• About age 18: opened his first used-car lot in Owensboro straight out of high school.
• 1979: moved to Indianapolis and, with partner Chuck Stuart, opened a dealership on U.S. 31 just north of Greenwood. Stuart's father, Oldsmobile dealer Charlie Stuart, had long sold him used cars on credit.
• 1987: bought out Stuart and began adding stores and brands every few years.
• 2009 to 2010: bought five lots from struggling dealers during the recession, reaching 13 showrooms at seven locations and becoming one of the five largest dealers in the area.
• 2025: filed plans to move its west-side Kia and Hyundai stores to new buildings in Whitestown, with opening targeted for spring 2026.

IBJ described his approach as running with as little debt as possible, putting most profits back into the business and sharing ownership with a few trusted partners. His long-running TV ads used the slogan "stack 'em deep and sell 'em cheap."

Recent changes (2025 to 2026)

Ray's son, Bill Skillman, now leads the business. In an April 2026 Racing America announcement, Bill was named CEO of Skillman Auto Group when the company and Ray Skillman Ford became partners of the series, with the Ford store supplying the official safety car. The Whitestown relocation, reported by IBJ in 2025, includes two dealerships of just over 30,000 square feet each and about 50 jobs apiece. In May 2026 the Indianapolis Star published a video and photo feature on his car collection.

Racing

Skillman raced in the late 1950s and early 1960s, then stopped for decades. According to NHRA, he returned around 2009 after he and grandson Drew took two Ford Cobra Jet Mustangs from the dealership to the drag strip. Towne Post reported he was about 70 when he restarted, and that Ray, Bill and Drew became three generations of drag racers. In October 2016 he was hurt in a crash after a qualifying run in Las Vegas; FOX59 reported a broken vertebra and a broken rib, and he was released from the hospital.

Charity

• Clothe-A-Child: an annual program Skillman started about 30 years ago. In December 2025 WTHR reported it would provide clothes, shoes and toys to around 1,200 central Indiana children.
• University of Indianapolis: in 2015 the auto group pledged $500,000 over five years toward renovating Nicoson Hall, according to the student newspaper.

Ray Skillman's age

His exact birth date is not public. IBJ gave his age as 68 in April 2010, and Current gave it as 81 in May 2023. That puts his birth around 1941 or 1942 and his age at about 84 in 2026. The old version of this page said he was 68, which was out of date.

Height and weight

No reliable source reports his height or weight. The figures on the previous version of this page had no source and have been removed.

Ray Skillman's wife and family

We could not find a reputable source that names Ray Skillman's wife, so the unsourced name on the earlier page has been removed. What is documented: his son Bill Skillman is CEO of the auto group, and his grandson Drew Skillman is a professional drag racer, according to NHRA and Towne Post. Current reported in 2023 that he lives in Greenwood.

Education

IBJ reported that he opened his first car lot straight out of high school. No source mentions a college degree, and the claim on the old version of this page has been removed.

Net worth compared

Skillman is one of several regional dealer-group founders profiled on this site. Cliff Findlay of Findlay Automotive, Aaron Zeigler of Zeigler Auto Group and Carl Moyer run similar family businesses. Readers of this page also look at Blair LaCorte and Paul Gravette. For a racing-focused business owner, see Bob Germain.

Why there is no reliable estimate

A personal net worth for a private dealer depends on dealership profits, how the franchises would be valued in a sale, the real estate under the stores, and how ownership is shared among family and partners. None of that is published for Ray Skillman Auto Group. The collection adds unknown value on top. Until a business outlet reports a valuation or a sale, any single number for Ray Skillman is a guess, and we will not repeat one.