Marlene Ricketts
Marlene Ricketts is the loving and supportive wife of T.D. Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts.
Her billionaire husband is an online stock trading pioneer who founded brokerage firm Ameritrade four decades ago in Omaha, Nebraska and took it public in 1997.
His company acquired TD Waterhouse for $2.9 billion in stock and cash in 2006 and renamed itself TD Ameritrade. In October 2016, TD Ameritrade said it would acquire competitor Scottrade for $4 billion; the deal closed in Sept. 2017.
Born John Joseph on July 16, 1941, the Nebraska businessman has been retired from TD Ameritrade since 2011 and has since pursued a number of ventures including DNAinfo.com, High Plains Bison, The Lodge at Jackson Fork, and The American Film Company.
He owns about 9.5% of the company, with his wife Marlene holding another 2.5% of the shares. He has been married to the lovely Marlene Margaret Ricketts since 1963.
Born Marlene Margaret Volkmer, she is the mother of the couple’s children.
The Ricketts family bought the Cubs in 2009 using their wealth from Ameritrade. The family long has been an active supporter of GOP presidential candidates, donating millions of dollars to the now defunct presidential campaign of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The family also led the charge to discredit President Barack Obama in his 2008 campaign by linking him to his former spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who is known for racially charged sermons.
In 2016, the family made headlines for spending millions on negative advertising against Trump.
Marlene and her husband have almost single-handedly funded the super PAC, led by former Mitt Romney adviser Katie Packer. Joe and Marlene Ricketts donated the lion share of the $4 million that was spent on attack ads that ran in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and is the only serious anti-Trump fundraising group. However the couple later decided to back up the then presidential nominee.
Marlene and Joe Ricketts are the parents of four adult children, three sons and one daughter. Ricketts’ 4 children are the majority owners of the Chicago Cubs, which won the World Series in 2016 for the first time in 108 years.
Tom Ricketts is the Cubs Chairman; while his brother, Todd Ricketts sits on the board of directors of the Chicago Cubs and TD Ameritrade.
Pete Ricketts, another son of Joseph and Marlene Ricketts, is a politician and the Republican governor of Nebraska.
Additionally, Laura Ricketts, the daughter of Joseph and Marlene Ricketts, is a prominent LGBTQ activist. Laura is a well-known figure in her adopted hometown of Chicago, both for being the first openly lesbian owner of a major sports franchise and for her work in pushing for marriage equality. In the past she was a board member at Lambda Legal.
Marlene Ricketts and her husband reside in Nebraska.
Read more about Mrs. Ricketts in the link below
