Quincy business owner ranks among the world's richest people on Forbes billionaires list

QUINCY − Robert Hale Jr., CEO of Quincy-based Granite Telecommunications and a local philanthropist, has made Forbes' list of billionaires for the second year in a row. Hale, who lives in Hingham and Boston, is listed as having a net worth of $5 billion.

As of Monday, Hale was ranked as the 568th richest person in the world on a list that changes daily. When he was named to the 2022 list, he was ranked 999th.

In its announcement last week, Forbes reported that nearly half of the planet’s billionaires are poorer than they were a year ago. A total of 254 people lost their billionaire status altogether. Hale, however, is listed as having his net worth rise from $3.6 billion to $5 billion in the last year.

"The marketplace right now rewards slow and steady growth with positive earnings," Hale said Monday. "For 21 years, we've been pretty consistent about what we do, and that consistency is appealing."

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Hale joins a list that is topped by France's Bernard Arnault, who oversees a luxury goods empire that includes Moët & Chandon, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Christian Dior and more; Amazon's Jeff Bezos; Elon Musk, of Tesla; Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison; and Warren Buffett.

Forbes' annual World's Billionaires List was released last week and listed 2,640 billionaires around the globe. More billionaires hail from the United States than any other country, with 735 citizens on the list. Other billionaires on the list from Massachusetts include Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson, of Milton; her brother Edward Johnson IV and her sister Elizabeth Johnson; Patriots owner Robert Kraft; New Balance Chairman Jim Davis; and Stéphane Bancel, CEO of the biotech company Moderna.

Hale joined The Forbes 400 list last fall, something that came about after the magazine featured the commencement speech he gave at Quincy College in the spring of 2021. At the graduation ceremony, he gave each of the 490 graduates $1,000 in cash – $500 to keep for themselves and $500 to give to an organization or individual “that needs it more than them.” He was named to the World's Billionaires List in April 2022 for the first time.

"To be on that list, of course, is for most people a seminal moment in their career and it was for me, simply because of what the list is, but it's also a byproduct of our teamwork," Hale said.

Hale was featured by Forbes last fall for his and his wife's promise to donate $1 million each week to local nonprofits committed to doing good on the South Shore and beyond. The project led to a Forbes cover story in October.

"We want to maintain a sense of community in the community. Within Granite, we are a family and I assure you we're going to do everything we can to continue that. We have 2,500 folks now and, as we get bigger, it gets harder to reach out to everyone, but it's vital that we do. Their work is what provides value," he said. "Within the community, it's vital that we give both our financial resources and our teammates' blood, sweat and time to keep continuing to make the community better."

South Shore organizations that received gifts included empowerHER in Cohasset, Weymouth's New England Wild Life Center, the NVNA and Hospice of Norwell, Dove Inc. of Quincy, the Kerry Jon Walker Fund of Hull, Quincy's This Star Won't Go Out, the Jett Foundation of Plymouth, Boys & Girls Clubs, South Shore Stars, the Friendship Home in Norwell and Hingham Congregational Church.

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Hale, a native of North Andover, founded Granite Telecommunications in Quincy in 2002, less than six months after his previous company, Network Plus, filed for bankruptcy. When Network Plus went public, Forbes named Hale as the seventh-wealthiest person in the world under the age of 40. Not long after, the company went under.

Hale calls the failure a defining moment in his life and career. Today, Granite is a $1.65 billion company that provides voice, data and other communications services to more than two-thirds of the largest 100 U.S. companies.

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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Forbes billionaires list includes Quincy business owner Rob Hale