From a kid growing up on the humble streets of St. Paul, Minnesota to successful businessman to one of the most generous philanthropists in history, Denny Sanford had a lifelong drive to succeed and a desire to leave a legacy of lasting significance.
“I strongly believe it’s not enough to just achieve whatever level of success we can while we’re alive on this earth, but rather take whatever we have and turn it into something significant.”
— Denny Sanford
Denny Sanford was born December 23, 1935, in St. Paul, Minnesota to William B. and Edith Sanford. Raised in a working-class neighborhood, he lost his mother to breast cancer when he was just 4 years old. At the age of 8, Denny started taking a streetcar from his elementary school to his father’s garment business in downtown St. Paul to stock shelves and sweep floors. He learned from a young age the value of hard work and good help.
A self-described “tough kid who loved to get into brawls,” Denny was arrested as a teenager after getting into a fight and was placed in a juvenile detention center. He was released after 36 days, striking a deal with the judge to let him out on the condition he got into college. He applied at the University of Minnesota and was accepted on scholastic probation, eventually graduating with a degree in psychology in 1958. Having had no intention of going to college, Denny called this episode “one of the best things of my life.”
After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Denny took a sales job with a construction products company. Quickly becoming one of their top salesmen, he asked for a raise and was turned down. So, he quit and started a competing business. This first business, Contech, went public at $5 a share and was eventually sold by Denny for $35 a share. Still in his early 40s, Denny became an avid golfer with his newfound time and began racing sailboats around the world.
Looking for his next challenge, Denny bought a small bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from a friend in 1986. With the help of a newly recruited leadership team, he turned First PREMIER Bank and PREMIER Bankcard into one of the strongest and most philanthropic financial organizations in the nation. A working-class kid at heart, Denny ran his businesses by demonstrating a profound work ethic, a clear vision for the company, a goal-oriented mindset and an implicit trust in those who worked for him.
The success of First PREMIER Bank and PREMIER Bankcard took Denny’s wealth from the millions to the billions. After achieving so much, he began to think about how to help others with his success. Remembering the devastating loss of his mother and losing his father to heart disease, he grew passionate about caring for children and creating a healthier, more hopeful future for everyone.
At the time of his first gift to Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health System in 2004, Denny had already given millions of dollars to children’s causes. But his $16 million pledge to help build a Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls began a commitment to healthcare philanthropy that lasted the rest of his life.
In 2007, Denny gave Sioux Valley the largest known donation in U.S. healthcare history at that time. Since known as Sanford Health, the health system devoted his transformational $400 million gift to advancing patient care through research, construction, outreach and innovation while becoming the largest rural healthcare system in the United States.
Though he lived a life of success, Denny’s goal was to live a life of significance. He did so by helping others through philanthropy and inspiring others to do the same. Denny’s gifts to Sanford Health totaled nearly $2 billion. His gifts to other health and wellness initiatives, research efforts, and child welfare and educational causes, put his philanthropic giving at over $4 billion in his lifetime.
His generosity will benefit the well-being of patients throughout the Midwest, across the nation and around the world.
To learn more about the life and legacy of Denny Sanford, visit the Sanford House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Or, take a virtual tour.
