Richard M. DeVos, the Amway Corporation co-founder who built and used one of the 20th century’s great personal fortunes to bolster the Republican Party, restore civic vitality to his hometown, Grand Rapids, Mich., and buy the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association, died on Thursday. He was 92.

His death, at his home in Ada, Mich., was caused by complications of an infection, according to a statement on the Magic’s website.

An evangelical Christian who espoused the virtues of self-reliance, capitalism and the free market, Mr. DeVos was above all a superb salesman. He joined Jay Van Andel, his friend and business partner for 55 years, in marketing the concept of direct sales and turned the privately owned Amway Corporation into a global enterprise with more than $8.6 billion in sales in 2017, more than 17,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of independent salespeople.

At his death, Mr. DeVos and his family had an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion. His daughter-in-law Betsy DeVos is education secretary in the Trump administration.