T. Denny Sanford

T. Denny Sanford, the second of two sons, was born in 1935 in St. Paul, Minnesota. His mother had emigrated from Sweden as a teenager with her parents, settling on the south side of Chicago, where his mother worked as a stenographer. "A funny thing about my mother's family," says Sanford, "is that their real last name was Anderson. Upon arriving at Ellis Island, they were asked for their surname, but they could not speak English, and they thought they were being asked what city they came from. They responded that they came from a house on the hill, and the agent recorded their last name as Hill. They did not want to cause trouble, so they simply accepted the new name."

Sanford's father was the youngest of 10 children and grew up on a farm in Illinois. After his parents married, they settled in St. Paul, where his father worked for a wholesale distributor of food and work clothing. "My father had a good singing voice," says Sanford. "He sometimes made a little extra money singing in churches and for minimum wages. The four of us lived in a 700-square-foot apartment on the east side of town, which was the poorest section."

When Sanford was four, his mother died from breast cancer. "She had been in the hospital for about a year before she died, so I have no memory of her at all," he says. "My father hired housekeepers to take care of me and my brother during the school year, and then in the summers we would stay with my mother's relatives in Chicago. My aunt became a bit of a mother figure to me."

Sanford had a close relationship with his father. "He was the most caring person I ever met," he says. "He never graduated high school because he had to help support his family. He was very giving, and I think my ideas about philanthropy, which is such an important part of my life today, came from him."

When Sanford was 11, his father remarried, and he soon had a younger half-brother. But Sanford did not get along well with his stepmother. "She was argumentative and difficult to live with," he says. "I learned to never engage her in these arguments. I just wouldn't respond, which usually upset her even more. I still have some of the letters she used to write to me and slide under my bedroom door, telling me her side of the dispute."

By the time Sanford was eight, his father was able to buy the clothing side of his employer's distribution business. The boy grew up working for his father, sweeping the floors of the warehouse, stocking shelves, and doing janitorial chores. When he was older, he had many other jobs, including installing seat covers in cars, setting pins at a bowling alley, and working on the assembly line at the Ford Motor plant.

As a student, Sanford struggled. "It never came easy to me," he says. "I worked full time all the way through high school, so that probably affected my grades. I was a tough kid and had a chip on my shoulder, probably because of the problems I had with my stepmother. I just didn't have much direction and didn't think much about my future."

At the age of 18, Sanford planned to graduate and join the U.S. Navy. He attended a going-away party for a friend, and after some drinking, a fight broke out. Sanford was involved and arrested along with three other friends, and he was sentenced to 90 days in jail. "That was a real wake-up call for me," says Sanford. "I was sitting in that jail with chronic low-level criminals who would leave and then be back two or three days later. I didn't want to become like them and knew I had to do something to change my life."

After 30 days in jail, Sanford was called for an audience with the judge, during which Sanford told the judge that he would attend the University of Minnesota in exchange for an early release. The judge demanded proof that the university would accept him. Denny applied and was accepted with a two-year academic probation. "The judge released me after 35 days, 20 hours, and 12 minutes," says Sanford. "But I have to say that whole miserable experience was a blessing in disguise."

As he did in high school, Sanford worked full time while going to the University of Minnesota. He was not sure about what he wanted to do and ended up changing his major four times, starting with math, then business, next economics, and finally settling on psychology. "I'd had a lot of sales experience, and I always liked people," he says. "I did well in psychology."

While Sanford was still in college, his father died. "We have a lot of heart disease in my family," he says. "My father had several heart attacks throughout my childhood. My older brother had a fatal heart attack at the age of 40. I also had a heart attack at the age of 44, but I have had good health since then. But the loss of my father when I was still so young was a major blow to me."

Sanford graduated in 1959 and joined Armstrong Cork Company as a sales representative. After winning the top spot in his training program, Sanford married, and he and his wife moved to the company's best sales territory, Detroit. He was earning $450 a month; after landing an account that netted the company $5 million, he asked for a $50 per month raise. The company refused and Sanford quit.

He moved back to St. Paul and started working on his own as a manufacturer's representative who promoted building materials for large commercial buildings. "There were a lot of small companies that couldn't afford a sales force, so they hired agents to find the products they needed for specific jobs," says Sanford. "My wife worked as a teacher and supported us for 18 months until my first commission checks began to come in."

When Sanford was 27, his stepmother committed suicide, leaving his half-brother alone. "I was married and had a three-year-old, a five-year-old, and now I was responsible for my brother, who was 15 at the time. But I had a very good relationship with him, and it all worked out well for us."

One year later, Sanford integrated his business into a distribution company and ultimately into a manufacturing and research firm called Contech, Inc. He took it public at $5 per share and sold it 10 years later, in 1982, at $35 a share.

In 1986, Denny bought a small, $80 million bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He then took it into the credit card business. United National Corp., with its two subsidiaries, First Premier Bank and Premier Bankcard, soon had a $1 billion portfolio of credit card loans.

Looking back over his business career, Sanford says it was all very rewarding. His advice to young people just getting their start is to never give up. "I like to use a quote from Steve Jobs," he says. "It goes like this: '˜People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.' I love that. I also think it's important to be a person whom others trust and respect. The better we are [at] creating a reputation for trust and respect, the better off we are."

After reading through the membership roster of the Horatio Alger Association, Sanford says, "This is the biggest honor I could ever imagine, not only for myself and the recognition it gives me, but also for the work being done on behalf of at-risk youth. I measure success by how much I can do for others to improve lives, and so I fully support the mission of the Association."

Sanford's philanthropic endeavors are profound. In 2007, he made history with his $400 million gift to the Sioux Valley Health System, which became Sanford Health. Later, he provided another $100 million to launch the Edith Sanford Breast Cancer Center, as well as $100 million for Type I diabetes research. His name is on the Stem Cell Clinical Center at the University of California at San Diego, and the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine brings together scientists from several San Diego-based research centers to look for cures using stem cells. In addition, the Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla supports many medical research projects.

Sanford's passion for social and emotional causes is represented via programs being developed at Arizona State University and being implemented in classrooms throughout the country. The Sanford Harmony Program builds stronger gender relationships to reduce the divorce rate, and the Sanford Inspire Program helps teachers inspire their students. At National University, the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy teaches "boots-on-the-ground" fundraisers to present their causes professionally and effectively. The manual, "Cause Selling: The Sanford Way," is sold by National University as well as Amazon.com, Inc.

To date, Sanford has given more than $1.4 billion, and he has received 44 philanthropic honors. He plans to "die broke" via a plan to distribute his wealth to at least five nonprofit organizations.