Ernest Garcia, II | $10B+

Get in touch with Ernest Garcia, II | Ernest García, II is a self-made billionaire automotive entrepreneur and investor. After a criminal conviction in 1990 tied to the Lincoln Savings & Loan collapse, he rebuilt his fortune by acquiring and scaling DriveTime Automotive Group—a used‑car sales and financing company targeting subprime customers. He also remains the largest individual shareholder of Carvana, the online used‑car platform founded by his son, Ernest Garcia III. As of early 2025, García’s net worth is estimated at around $16–21 billion.

Ernest García II (born May 1, 1957) is an American billionaire businessman, in the used car sector. He is the owner of DriveTime (originally named UglyDuckling), and a major shareholder of Carvana. In 1990 he pled guilty to a felony bank fraud charge for his role in the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association collapse. As of January 2025, his net worth was estimated at US$20.7 billion.[1] Ernest García II Born May 1, 1957 (age 68) Nationality American Education University of Arizona Occupation Businessman Known for Chairman and owner, DriveTime Spouse Married Children Ernest Garcia III Contents Early life edit Ernest García II was born May 1, 1957,[2] the son of Ernest Garcia, who co-owned a liquor store with Frank Colaianni, and was once the mayor of Gallup, New Mexico.[3] He dropped out, but eventually earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona.[3] Career edit In October 1990, García, then a Tucson-based real estate developer pleaded guilty to a felony bank fraud charge for his role as a straw borrower in the collapse of Charles Keating's Lincoln Savings and Loan Association.[4][5] Garcia "fraudulently obtained a $30-million line of credit in a series of transactions that also helped Lincoln hide its ownership in risky desert Arizona land from regulators."[4] Garcia spent three years on probation, and he and his firm filed for bankruptcy.[5] In 1991, García bought Ugly Duckling, a bankrupt rent-a-car franchise, for under $1 million and merged it with his own fledgling finance company, and turned it into a company selling and financing used cars for sub-prime buyers with poor credit history.[5] Garcia took the company public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1996, trading under the ticker "UGLY".[6] In 1999, Garcia was involved in six lawsuits alleging he had "abused his position to profit" from a real estate deal where he ultimately acquired 17 company properties at a 10% discount.[5] In 2002, Garcia and the former Ugly Duckling CEO, Gregory Sullivan, took the company private and renamed it DriveTime.[7] As of April 2021, García's net worth is estimated at $15.9 billion.[8] It was announced in September 2021 that Garcia had sold more than $3.6 billion of Carvana stock since the previous October, which amounted to 16% of his holdings in the company.[9] Personal life edit He is married, and lives in Tempe, Arizona.[10] His son, Ernest Garcia III, is CEO of Carvana.[3] Garcia owns an apartment in New York's Trump Tower.

---

Join UHNWI direct Affiliate Program

Earn Passive Income by Sharing Verified Contact Information of Billionaires, Centi-Millionaires, and Multi-Millionaires on the UHNWI Direct Platform

Maximize your earnings potential by sharing direct and validated contact information of the ultra-wealthy, including billionaires, centi-millionaires, and multi-millionaires. Join the UHNWI Direct platform and tap into a lucrative passive income stream by providing valuable data to those seeking high-net-worth connections. Start earning today with UHNWI Direct.

You may also be interested in reviewing other UHNWIs profiles.

To find the person you want to contact, start typing their name or other relevant tags in the search bar.

Please note: Our database contains over 10,000 direct contacts of UHNWIs, and it is highly likely that the individual you are seeking is already included. However, creating individual profiles for each contact is a meticulous and time-intensive process, So, if you are unable to find the profile of the individual you are looking for, please click here.

Filter by Net Worth: All | Billionaires | Centi-Millionaires | Multi-Millionaires

Filter by Location: All | USA | Canada | Europe | UK | Russia & CIS | Asia | MEIA | Australia | Latin America

Filter by Age: 1920-1930 | 1930-1940 | 1940-1950 | 1950-1960 | 1960-1970 | 1970-1980 | 1980-1990 | 1990-2000

Filter by: Men | Women

Related People

Marketing Tools

Essential marketing tools to effectively engage wealthy individuals, tailored to meet any personal, marketing, or sales objectives.

Use tags below for more precise targeting.