Gary Tharaldson Net Worth

Gary Tharaldson has an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Gary Tharaldson profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $1.2 billion in 2024.

Gary Tharaldson is an American entrepreneur and the founder of the Tharaldson Companies. He is known for building a major hotel business in the United States. Before his company grew, he worked as a physical education teacher and an insurance salesman. His turning point came in 1982, when he bought his first Super 8 motel in Valley City, North Dakota. That deal gave him a start in hospitality and led to a much larger real estate business over time.

Tharaldson expanded far beyond that early motel. Forbes says he has built, owned, and operated over 400 hotels, opening one new hotel per month on average over 40 years. In 2006, he sold 130 hotels to Goldman Sachs for about $1.2 billion. He then reinvested in land and in commercial and residential developments. In 2008, he also launched an ethanol facility near Fargo, North Dakota, adding another source of business income.

How Gary Tharaldson makes money

Most of Gary Tharaldson’s wealth comes from hotels and real estate. He entered the business in 1982 with a Super 8 motel in Valley City, North Dakota, then kept expanding through Tharaldson Companies and Tharaldson Hospitality. Forbes says he went on to build, own, and operate over 400 hotels across the United States. That long run in lodging made him one of the country’s largest developers of new hotels and the base of his fortune.

A major money move came in 2006, when he sold 130 hotels to Goldman Sachs for about $1.2 billion. Forbes says he reinvested that money into land and into commercial and residential developments, keeping real estate at the center of his business. He also branched out in 2008 by launching an ethanol facility near Fargo, North Dakota. Forbes says the plant produces over 175 million gallons per year, giving him another business outside hotels.

Forbes net worth snapshot

Forbes estimated Gary Tharaldson’s net worth at $1.2 billion on its World’s Billionaires List in 2024. Forbes kept the same estimate in 2025 and again in 2026. That steady figure matched a business built over decades, with hotels as the main driver and real estate development as a key second piece. His long record of opening hotels, plus the 2006 sale and later reinvestment, helps explain why he stayed in billionaire range across those years.

As of October 20, 2026, Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker put him at $1.8 billion. Forbes also says he is the richest person in North Dakota and lists him as self-made. The same core businesses appear behind that estimate: hotels, land, commercial projects, residential developments, and the ethanol facility launched in 2008. Taken together, those businesses show how his wealth moved from a motel purchase in 1982 to a broader real estate and operating portfolio.