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The fortune: Keith E. Busse was born and raised in Fort Wayne, educated at International Business College, St. Francis College, and Indiana University's Fort Wayne campus, and spent twenty-one years at Nucor Corporation, rising to general manager and vice president. In 1993 he left Nucor with two fellow managers, Mark D. Millett and Richard P. Teets Jr., to form Steel Dynamics Inc., headquartered in Fort Wayne — which grew into one of the largest steel producers and metals recyclers in the United States. Busse retired as chief executive in December 2011 and remained board chairman; Millett succeeded him as chief executive. He is also a founder or early investor in other Fort Wayne ventures, among them Tower Bank (acquired by Old National in 2013). The company's business entry is in the Business section.
The giving: Purdue University's 2006 citation for Busse's honorary Doctor of Engineering named "exceptional community leadership and philanthropic commitments in Fort Wayne and the State of Indiana" alongside the steelmaking. The Mad Anthonys made him their Red Coat recipient in 2016, citing philanthropic efforts "as well known and widespread as his business successes." Published gifts include Busse's personal commitment of $200,000 to Trine University's Fort Wayne campus project (2022), made on top of a $3 million pledge from the Steel Dynamics Foundation to the same project; Trine's Angola campus carries the Keith E. Busse / Steel Dynamics Inc. Athletic and Recreation Center, the Thunder Ice Arena, and the Steel Dynamics Inc. Center for Engineering and Computing. In 2018 Busse auctioned his Corvette Indianapolis pace-car collection — the only complete set of its kind — at Mecum's Indianapolis auction, with proceeds to the Keith Busse Automotive and Classic Art Foundation, which supports higher education and charities in Northeast Indiana; he told the Journal Gazette he expected the cars to bring between $1 million and $2 million. No publication has printed an estimate of Busse's personal net worth, and none appears here; the same is true of Millett and Teets, whose published record is the company itself.
Sources:
- Purdue University, 2006 honorary degree citation — the Nucor years, the 1993 founding of Steel Dynamics, the philanthropy citation.
- Mad Anthonys Foundation, 2016 Red Coat announcement — the Tower Bank and other ventures; the philanthropy record.
- Trine University (2021, 2022) — the $200,000 personal commitment, the Steel Dynamics Foundation's $3 million pledge, the named facilities.
- Mecum Auctions / duPont Registry (2018); Journal Gazette via ClassicCars journal — the pace-car collection auction and its foundation beneficiary.