Greg Gianforte is an American businessman, engineer, author, and politician who has a net worth of $135 million. Greg Gianforte made his fortune as the co-founder of RightNow Technologies, a cloud-based customer service software company that he and his wife, Susan, built in Bozeman, Montana. RightNow went public in 2004 and was later sold to Oracle for roughly $1.5 billion. That deal made Gianforte one of the wealthiest technology entrepreneurs to enter politics.

Greg Gianforte served as Montana's at-large member of the United States House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021 before being elected governor of Montana. He became the state's first Republican governor in more than a decade and was later re-elected. His career combines software entrepreneurship, conservative politics, philanthropy, and a sometimes combative public image. Gianforte's political rise was shaped by his business success, his deep personal wealth, his support for high-tech economic development in Montana, and his ability to self-fund campaigns in a state where personal money can be a major advantage.

Gregory Richard Gianforte was born on April 17, 1961, in San Diego, California. He was raised in Pennsylvania and showed an early interest in science, engineering, and technology. He attended Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering.

After college, Gianforte began his career at Bell Laboratories. That early experience in a major technology company helped shape his views on product development, sales, and entrepreneurship. He later left the corporate world to build companies of his own.

Before RightNow, Gianforte co-founded Brightwork Development, a software company that made server-based network management products for the banking industry. The company was sold to McAfee Associates in the 1990s. After the sale, Gianforte worked for McAfee, including in sales leadership.

In 1995, Greg and Susan Gianforte moved to Bozeman, Montana. At the time, Bozeman was not widely known as a technology hub, but Gianforte believed the internet made it possible to build a global software company from almost anywhere. That idea became central to his next business.

In 1997, Greg and Susan Gianforte founded RightNow Technologies. The company developed customer relationship management and customer service software delivered through the internet. RightNow helped companies manage customer questions, support requests, knowledge bases, and online service interactions.

Building a cloud software company in Montana was unusual at the time. Gianforte used the company's location as part of its identity, arguing that high-paying technology jobs did not have to be concentrated in Silicon Valley, Seattle, or Boston. RightNow grew into one of Montana's most important technology companies and eventually employed more than 1,000 people.

RightNow went public in 2004. In 2011, Oracle announced that it would acquire RightNow in a deal valued at roughly $1.5 billion. The sale cemented Gianforte's fortune and gave him a national reputation as a successful software entrepreneur.

Gianforte also co-wrote the business book "Bootstrapping Your Business: Start and Grow a Successful Company with Almost No Money," drawing on his experience building companies without relying heavily on outside venture capital.

Gianforte first ran for governor of Montana in 2016 as the Republican nominee, losing to Democratic incumbent Steve Bullock. The following year, he ran in a special election for Montana's at-large U.S. House seat after Ryan Zinke left Congress to become Secretary of the Interior.

Gianforte won the 2017 special election, but the race became nationally famous after he assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs the night before the election. Gianforte later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault, paid a fine, completed community service, and apologized. Despite the controversy, he was sworn into Congress and later won re-election in 2018.

In 2020, Gianforte ran for governor again and won, defeating Democrat Mike Cooney. He became Montana's first Republican governor since Judy Martz. He was re-elected in 2024.

As governor, Gianforte has focused on tax policy, business development, natural resources, housing, public safety, and conservative social policy. His administration has emphasized making Montana more attractive to businesses and workers while also navigating the challenges that come with rapid growth, including housing affordability and pressure on public lands.

Gianforte's business background remains central to his political image. Supporters point to RightNow as evidence that he understands job creation and entrepreneurship. Critics have focused on his wealth, his policy positions, and the influence of his philanthropy and political spending in Montana public life.

Greg Gianforte is no longer a member of Congress, but during his time in the House he ranked among the richest members of Congress.

Unlike many wealthy politicians whose fortunes come from inherited assets, spouse-controlled trusts, or decades of investment gains, Gianforte's wealth traces directly to a company he built. RightNow Technologies turned him from a successful engineer and entrepreneur into a centimillionaire.

Greg and Susan Gianforte have also been major philanthropists through the Gianforte Family Foundation. The foundation has donated tens of millions of dollars to charities, schools, religious organizations, social-service nonprofits, and conservative-leaning civic groups. In Montana, the foundation has become one of the state's most significant private philanthropic forces.

The scale of Gianforte's giving reflects the size of the fortune created by RightNow. It has also brought scrutiny, because some of the groups supported by the foundation operate in areas that overlap with public policy debates in Montana.

Greg Gianforte is married to Susan Gianforte. The couple has four children. Susan played a major role in the family's business career, co-founding RightNow Technologies and helping build the company from Bozeman into a publicly traded software business.

The Gianfortes have remained closely associated with Montana's technology community, conservative politics, and philanthropy. Their wealth gave Greg Gianforte the financial freedom to enter politics after a highly successful business career, first as a congressional candidate and later as governor.