About Foster Friess

Foster Friess grew up in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, a first-generation college graduate. His mother dropped out of school in the eighth grade to pick cotton in order to save the family farm in Texas. His father dealt cattle and horses.

Foster was valedictorian, class president, student council president, and captain of the basketball, track, golf, and baseball teams.

At the University of Wisconsin, Foster earned a degree in business administration, served as president of his fraternity, was named one of the “ten most outstanding senior men.” As president of the Kappa Chapter of the Chi Phi Fraternity, he also orchestrated the first Jewish member of that chapter. He also won the heart of “Badger Beauty” and Chi Omega president Lynnette Estes, whom he married in 1962. Two sons, two daughters, and fifteen grandchildren followed.

Foster and Lynn devoted over $500 million to philanthropy. In 1999, the “Champ” himself awarded Foster the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award, and in 2000, at the National Charity Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., Foster was named the “Humanitarian of the Year,” following in the footsteps of Coretta Scott King, Bob Hope, President George H.W. Bush, and Lady Bird Johnson.

Lynn and Foster gain their philanthropic inspiration from Galatians 6:2: “When we carry one another’s burdens we fulfill the law of Christ.” From supporting families of disabled children in Wyoming to assisting victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake, Lynn and Foster engage in a wide scope of philanthropic activities.

Partnering with Tucker Carlson, Foster launched the Daily Caller. In 2012, Foster met Charlie Kirk, and was instrumental in the launch of Turning PointUSA.  That same year, he was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. The Horatio Alger Award symbolizes personal initiative and perseverance, leadership and commitment to excellence, belief in the free-enterprise system, the importance of higher education, community service, and the vision and determination to achieve a better future.

After the Parkland school shooting, in USA Today Foster issued a $2.5 million challenge grant to fund Rachel’s Challenge which encourages students to launch a chain reaction of kindness. It was founded by Darrell Scott, whose daughter Rachel was the first victim of Columbine. It has averted seven school shootings and over 700 suicides in the last three years.

In 2018, Foster launched Foster’s Outriders with the mission to promote principles of free enterprise, limited constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, and traditional American values. Working with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, the foundation strives to unite Americans from all backgrounds around issues we can all agree on.

In 2021, President Donald Trump, Senator Jim DeMint, and Congressman Mark Meadows presented Foster with the Conservative Lifetime Achievement Award.

Foster passed away on May 27, 2021, surrounded by his family. Today Foster’s Outriders continue his mission to keep America on the right trail by working together with Americans from all walks of life.